


Shadow of a Hero

by Jediman3477



Category: Danny Phantom, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-23 12:33:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 55,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23678173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jediman3477/pseuds/Jediman3477
Summary: In a twist of fate and time, Clockwork sends the Danny destined to become Dan Phantom to the MHA universe at the moment of his greatest loss. There, in the world of heroes, he hopes Danny can find a way to break past his dark fate and become the true hero that all hope him to be. (Pairing undecided as of now help me)
Relationships: Midoriya Izuku/Uraraka Ochako
Comments: 64
Kudos: 292





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Oh man I really don't know who to pair with this Danny. We'll see what happens.

“To save the future, Danny Phantom must perish.”

The words sickly repeated in Clockword’s mind over and over again like an infinite loop, destroying and ramming any other passing thoughts like a runaway train.

The ghost time master suspected the all-seeing Observants to have some hand in that. They wanted this done fast after all. And they wanted Clockwork focused on it. 

And, to their credit, focused on it he was. Not for any kind of sake for the Observants. Mainly because what he had been tasked to do had piqued his curiosity to no end.

“Fascinating,” Clockwork stated again, currently present in his adult form. His palm twisted the glowing power it held once again, shifting the image of the seeing rift in front of him. “One skew of fate, and this world’s greatest hero falls to become the world’s greatest villain. A destructive power unlike anyone has ever seen. And nobody in this world can stop him.” As he placed his hand to his chin in thought, his form shimmered as his body began to change. 

In a second, he went from a glowing hooded blue figure to a small toddler, his cheeks puffed out and his chin now drooped in baby fat. But his pure red eyes never lost their luster or curiosity. They, in fact, glowed as he reached over with his held staff and shifted the rift once more.

The previous vision in the rift had been one of a burning city, suffering and screaming as countless civilians fled in terror from a shadow that seemed to loom over all of them. With one blast of power from the sky above, another tall skyscraper fell to the firescape below, washing the already chaotic scene with fresh smoke and soot. A wave of rubble crashed through houses like they were made of toothpick, enveloping and crushing cars with a shower of broken glass and overtaking civilians who weren’t fast enough.

All while the figure above laughed. Uncaring, unchallenged and merciless beyond comparison. 

Clockwork had been given a gateway to that moment by his superiors in order to provide him with the means to hastily make his decision and put an end to the Fenton boy’s life. But Clockwork didn’t like to concentrate on the bad aspects of a person's life. Rather, he was a person who would rather look at an individual's contributions as a whole and work from there.

And from his point of view, Danny Phantom was someone worth keeping around. 

He was intriguing to Clockwork. Any other young mind given this much power at such an early age would have likely used it for their own gains and toppled a good chunk of society along the way. But not Danny. He decided to use the otherworldly abilities he gained to help people and stop those with sinister intent towards his planet and home. He was selfless most of the time, courageous, headstrong, noble.

He was truly a hero at his peak. That is, before the scene that Clockwork’s rift displayed currently. 

The image showed a young Danny Fenton, out of his ghost form, kneeling on the ground, his hands splayed out on the cement and incoherent mumbling escaping from his lips. 

His eyes were not the sharp intelligent ones they had been. Instead, in their place were eyes that darted around wildly, almost ferally in search of other things to look at then what was in front of him. Tears flowed freely down his cheeks and his very body trembled in what seemed to be shock and grief. 

Everything about him screamed that he was one push away from the edge, emotionally broken by what was seen in front of him. And Clockwork could see why. In front of the boy was what was left of the burning remains of The Nasty Burger. Somewhere within the wreckage itself lay the bodies of his family, friends and teacher. All of whom Danny felt he didn’t do enough to save. His guilt was at its absolute peak in this moment. And it would only fester into something much darker.

This was the catalyst. This was the moment in time that Danny Phantom was stuck on the path to becoming the ultimate evil. And this was why the Observants wanted him killed before this moment could happen. Erased from existence so the world may be spared.

“But killing the boy is not the answer,” Clockwork said aloud as his form shifted once more, putting him in a whitened aged state. “He only requires guidance.” 

But who? Clockwork knew the Observants would probably be asking that already. He was sure no one in this world would be able to help him. They would only be strangers to Danny. And strangers who didn’t know the burden that came with wielding power. If anything, they would only make the situation worse.

For that problem, Clockwork has already put in motion a plan of his own. One that drew lines from both his machinations and those of the Observants.

He agreed that Danny shouldn’t be left as he was in the current timeline and that he couldn’t be left in his current state. Rather, he needed people who could help him as readily as he helped them. Danny needed to be around other heroes.

There were no heroes besides him in his world. But….

“There are in others,” Clockwork said with a smile as he reached a hand out to shift the power circling him to a fine point in his palm. He opened the connection to a world he had his eye on for a while. “Others that are selfless…”

“It’s YOURS! Your Quirk! Not his!”

“Courageous…” 

“COME ON!!!”

“Headstrong….”

“GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY, DEKU!”

“And noble….” 

“Young man, you too can become a hero…” 

Clockwork smiled. “They will do perfectly.” 

…

Danny wasn’t able to conjure a single thought in his grief stricken mind. His very body trembled as he looked on at the burning wreckage of The Nasty Burger in front of him, his tears coming in full mass as he choked on his own stumbling breaths. 

His whole world was gone. His family. His friends. Dad. Mom. Jazz. Sam. Tucker. 

They were gone. And he couldn’t save them. He was weak and now they were gone.

All his fault.

A fresh painful fist of guilt slammed into his heart once more, bringing on another onset of shock and labored breathing. How could he call himself a hero? At all? He had failed to save the people that had mattered to him most. In one move, he had lost everything.

What could he do from here? Why do anything from here? What was left for him to fight for? Why wasn’t he faster?

He didn’t even register himself falling to the cement floor. All he knew was pain in that moment. And the impact couldn’t provide more on what was already overwhelming. The ghost boy felt hollow inside. And it was only deepened when he heard the sirens of the Amity Park fire department closing in on the disaster site. They would question him, comfort him, try to make things better.

Danny already knew they couldn’t do that. He didn’t know if anyone could do that. Not anymore. He was alone. And he didn’t know who he would turn to next.

The sirens closed in around him amongst the still crackling remains of the burning building, stopping entirely as they were no doubt preparing hoses to combat the flames and rushing to talk to Danny.

He waited, expecting the fire fighters to pull him away from the wreckage at any moment. But those thoughts were halted when Danny took notice of the noise around him. There wasn’t any. There wasn’t any crackle of flames, shifting of falling wreckage or the run of car engines. 

In confusion, the halfa sat up from his fallen position and felt his eyes widen. All around him, the world had frozen. The long line stretching smoke line was now halted, alongside the firefighters who were all in mid-run, looks of determination locked like stone. People who were gawking at the disaster site didn’t move, their expressions vacant and unmoving as everything else.

Danny took in the sight in shock. What was happening?

No sooner had he thought that, he felt a chill course through him as his Ghost Sense activated. A sense of anger coursed through him at the same time. Not today.

“Whoever you are, don’t do this! Not today!” Danny yelled out, fists clenched. “I... I just lost everything! Everyone! Even you know what it’s like to lose someone! I just lost every person I care about in this world! SO LEAVE ME ALONE!”

“That is precisely why I have come, boy.”

Danny whirled around at the sound of the utterly calm voice behind him and saw a floating figure only a few feet from the remains of The Nasty Burger. He was obviously the ghost that triggered Danny’s senses, as his skin was a ghastly pale blue and his bottom half was a swirling whisp. He had glowing red eyes that seemingly peered through Danny’s very soul, peering from just beyond a purple hooded cape that obscured only some of his facial features. The hood stretched down and covered the top half of the being, outfitting him in a purple shade that brought focus onto his chest, which held an odd amount of clock gears and ticks. And he held a sleek metal staff that curved up at the top and centered around a glowing clock.

It was definitely a ghost he didn’t recognize, but he wasn’t what Danny was concerned with. What he was concerned with was the quickly expanding rift that was beside the ghost in question. Not only was it expanding, it seemed to be building ghostly tendrils off it’s sides. Long black whipping squid like shadows that were beginning to stretch towards him.

But even that concern was limited. Danny didn’t want to deal with the ghost at the moment. All he wanted to do was mourn.

“Look!” Danny exclaimed. “I really don’t know who you are or what you have against me, but today is not a day I want to deal with you! Leave now and tell all the other ghosts that I’m done!”

The ghost narrowed his eyes as the rift seemed to expand further. “But you are not done, Danny Fenton. Far from it, in fact. You are only beginning on the path fate has laid out for you. And I am here to prevent that.”

Danny regarded him for a moment before getting into his fighting stance. “What do you mean? And who exactly are you?”

“I am Clockwork,” He calmly replied with a hand to his chest. “Guardian of the Time Stream. And you are a danger to this very world and it’s future. So much so, I have been tasked to eliminate you.”

At that, the Fenton clenched his fists. “I’m not a danger. And I’m not being eliminated. I’m staying here to bury my family and friends.”

Clockwork sighed and all at once his form shifted, a long white beard appearing on his chin and his stance becoming more slouched as his now bagged eyes regarded Danny in sadness.

“There is nothing left for you here, boy. Only pain and fury.”

“I told you, I’m not leaving!” Danny gathered his power. “But you definitely are! I’M GOING GHOST!”

The boy flexed his arms to his side and tried to summon his peak ghost powers. But, to his shock, his abilities refused to surface. He looked to his hands.

“What?” He questioned. “My powers. What-?”

“They are being nullified,” Clockwork replied with a slight smile as he raised his staff. “And not by any means of mine.”

“What?! How? Why?” Danny was incomprehensible. How were his powers gone? What was happening?

“As I have foreseen,” Clockwork shifted again, this time taking the form of a toddler. “You will not win this fight, Danny. And you will not prevent what will happen next.”

At that, the sides of the ever expanding rift exploded, sending the dark tentacles lashing forward. Before Danny could react, two each slammed into his left and right arm, pulling him towards the rift at a breakneck speed. Danny slammed his feet against the ground to slow the pull. His shoes skidded on the cement, burning against the road with ferocious heat and speed. But it did nothing to slow the process down.

“Stop! Don’t do this!” Danny cried out in between breaths and struggle. “You have to know this is wrong! You can’t kill me for something I didn’t even do!”

“I agree,” Clockwork said, stopping Danny’s train of thought. “I feel it’s a waste to kill you for something that has not occured, especially with all you’ve done. But you still pose a danger to the timeline. So this is my solution to the problem at hand. An act of mercy for you.” He smiled again, although this one was filled with genuine comfort (the best one that could be conjured by a ghost toddler). “Go forth, Danny Fenton. Rise above. And become the hero you were made to be.”

With that, without a second to process what Clockwork had said to him, the rest of the whipping darkness surged forward and bounded him. With one last yell, Danny Phantom was pulled through the conjured rift and thrown towards a world beyond imagination.

…

Clockwork quickly sealed the rift shortly after the boy was transported, ensuring he would not be able to return easily. After which, a silence fell upon the frozen world. One that Clockwork found himself relishing in. The future that had been destined for this world had been thwarted. 

And the destiny of a young hero was no longer so bleakly certain. Everything had changed in the blink of an eye. And Clockwork had completed his job. Not the way the Observants had wanted him too, but Danny Phantom was no longer a problem in this timeline. 

It was a success, regardless of execution style. At least, to Clockwork it was.

“Your mission was to eliminate Daniel Fenton, not to transport him away to become a later problem.”

Clockwork didn’t need to turn to recognize that the Observants now stood behind him. It was their preferred way of talking to him after all.

“Danny will not become a later problem,” Clockwork reassured as he shifted into his adult form. “The rift I had used has been properly sealed, ensuring no way back to this timeline from where I sent him. And, with his transportation, he has been severed and cut from this timeline’s fate while still retaining his potential to become a great force for good as opposed to one of destruction.”

“Reckless, Clockwork,” One of the Observants said. “You have no way of knowing that this new timeline will do anything to assist the ghost boy. There’s a chance he could fall to be just as destructive as he had in this timeline.”

“Yes,” The second agreed. “And what will you do then? What will you do when Daniel Fenton kills every inhabitant on this other Earth and strikes his way back here with possibly even more power at his fingertips?”

Clockwork almost laughed aloud. “I doubt this world will let Danny fall so easily back to the darkness. Not with the people they have there. And, even if he does fall,” He looked up at the center clock at the top of his staff, which displayed a messy green haired boy in a light blue jumpsuit, mid-air and what seemed to be mid-punch with his arm stooped in power. “This world will be far more suited to deal with him then we were.”

…

Mustafu, Japan  
Seven months before the UA Entrance Exams…

It was supposed to be the end of the shift for Medical Nurse Daichi Seicho and the beginning of a long trek back home through the darkened Mustafu. Supposed to be, until the alleyway literally exploded beside him.

It wasn’t any fault of his. He was halfway home and had been far and away from any kind of contact with the gap between the two sandwiched buildings. And his Quirk definitely wasn’t one that could produce explosive energy like that.

But, nevertheless, he found himself in this situation. He had only been walking by, head stooped low to his phone to once again re-read the provisional medical rules when it came to the use of Quirks in the hospital when the night was instantly lit by the sudden and torrent flash of green light that threw him side-first to the street below, painfully popping something in his side.

Seicho’s phone shattered as it slammed hard against the concrete, spraying small particles of glass through the night air as a number of civilians around the area exclaimed in shock at the repulse of energy around them.

He was in some serious pain, but he also knew that this definitely wasn’t caused by a pipe bursting or some other mechanical failure. This was power. Power meant a Quirk. And a Quirk…  
“Means possible injuries of or from the user,” Seicho grunted to himself as he came to a shakey stand. “Which means there’s no time to waste.” He turned and waved away the approaching onlookers. “Go! Call for a hero! I have to check for injuries!”

Without waiting for a response, Seicho tore off his backpack, snatched the small medical bag attached to it and took off running into the alley at a breakneck speed.

A small part of his mind told him there was the lingering threat that it could very well be a group of villains. And they could very easily kill him. But there was no evidence he saw that pointed to that. No after-blows, no running individuals, nothing. Until he saw otherwise, he would treat this as a civilian situation. That’s what any pro hero would do. And that’s what he intended to do here.

It only took him a moment to find the center point of the explosion, but infinitely more to try and process what exactly was in front of him.

For one, there was only minor surface burn damage to the surrounding structures, which shocked him a bit. How was there only small surface damage from an explosion like that?

For another, there was the fact that the still burning patches of trash cans and trash items were on fire, but not in any kind of fire that Seicho could recognize. The fire was glowing green and gave off a very cold sense, almost as if it was a fire that only radiated the purest of cold. Yet it still ate through items like regular fire.

What kind of Quirk can do something like this? Seicho wondered in his mind before a fit of coughing tore his attention away from the strange flames.

A small section of the thrown away trash was shifting from side-to-side, as if something was moving under it. Another cough echoed through the alley and that was all it took for Seicho to race over.

He ripped away the trash lingering on the moving body and came face-to-face with a bruised and battered black haired boy, decked out in a torn white shirt, blue jeans and sneakers. His face was tattered in small bleeding scars, as well as his back. Seicho was not surprised. By the looks of things, the boy was thrown very strongly back first into two trash cans and an assortment of discarded pallets and metal objects before coming to a stop here. 

What exactly did this to him? Himself? Or did someone fight him? 

Seicho couldn’t spend time wondering. Either way, it was better to get the boy out of here and to a hospital. He quickly disinfected the most visible and fresh wounds, which earned a groan from the boy, but nothing worrying. After that, he quickly and carefully picked him up and retreated from the alley, praying that the area had been cleared to make way for the paramedics and/or heroes.

“You’re going to be okay,” Seicho said to the young kid as he ran. “You’re going to be okay. The heroes are on their way as well. We’ll get you to safety and get you help.”

To his surprise, the kid started mumbling in what seemed to be English, both quietly and loudly exclaiming in short bursts. He never was one to pay attention in English language, so it came in a bit broken for him. The only words Seicho was able to pick up were names and the occasional phrase. “....Sorry…. Dad….Mom….fault...never….please….. Ghost.”

Seicho got a shiver as he neared the awaiting flashing lights of the paramedics and the arriving heroes. At that point in time, he had no idea why. That wouldn’t remain the case. Not for him. And not for the heroes of this world.


	2. Restless Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A very unsure awakening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still a bit nervous when it comes to writing this story! But thank you for all your support! I will gladly continue!

Chapter One: Restless Awakening

Danny had awakened in many different ways since he had acquired his abilities. In various degrees of sore and bruised. But this…. This was different. In more ways than one.

The first thing he was fully aware of was the burning sensation lining every inch of his back, alongside the pulse of bruises across his arms and legs.

He had been hurt before, yeah. But this fresh scratching pain was almost a paring to the pulse of heaviness that suddenly and violently jolted at his chest. 

He felt himself groan in pain as his eyes slowly opened. Then Danny felt himself immediately squinting in response to the shining lights that blazed down on him from above. As he slowly sat up, he became aware of the click and beeps of machinery around him and the fact that he no longer wore his casual clothes. He instead felt his body encapsulated in a soft lining that fit well with the bed he was lying in. 

Danny already had a fair idea where he was, though with really no idea exactly how he got there yet. And that didn’t improve his mood, given his last encounter in a hospital. 

“What happened?” He asked aloud to hopefully anyone near. “And how did I get here?” 

it was a fairly nice hospital, all things considered. Amity Park was Danny’s home and he had little against it. But compared to the cramped shared hospital bedrooms with other people going in and out, this single bed with a fully outfitted room with a small flat screen tv and thick blankets that wrapped themselves comfortably around his body was like a dream. Which gave him the immediate sense he wasn’t home anymore.

Then how did he get…

All at once, it came rushing back to him like a tidal wave of guilt, pain and sadness. And it was quickly followed with anger equal to none. 

“Clockwork.”

Danny quickly jumped out of his bed, feeling his bare feet slap hard against the cold floor as he yanked away the heart monitor connectors. He felt another unimaginable pulse of pain from his back, but he ignored it for now. More than anything, he wanted to get to the bottom of this. 

The machine went from a steady beep to immediate flatline, filling the room with a droning sound as Danny quickly moved to the closed and dark window. 

“He must have thrown me somewhere into the Ghost Zone.” He muttered angrily. “That must be what that portal was for. Anything with that many shadow tentacles is not giving me a friendly ride home.” He flipped the last lock on the window. “Well, one things for sure. I’m definitely not sticking around to brainstorm. I have to get back to Amity Park and back to my…” 

To Danny’s surprise, when he flipped open the window, he didn’t find any trace of the floating doors or the glowing green hue of the Ghost Zone. Instead, he was greeted with the rush of air and bustle of cars and work below as he looked out into the stretching city, the Sun shining brightly and illuminating the in’s and outs of the rivers of roads that stretched on for miles. 

Danny Fenton was shocked to say the least. So shocked, he actually partially stumbled. This wasn’t what he was expecting.

He wasn’t in Amity Park anymore. Unless his town had gotten an OCEAN of money to make skyscrapers within a week, he knew he was somewhere entirely different. And one thought above all else now filled his mind. 

If the portal didn’t take me to the Ghost Zone, where exactly did it take me?

His thought was either quickly answered or interrupted by the sound of the door quickly opening behind him.

Danny whirled out, instincts gearing him for another fight. Instead, he found himself staring into the eyes of a young dark haired doctor, who looked just as shocked as he felt. Behind the doctor were two nurses in blue scrubs, both with medical bags and equipment at the ready.

The halfa realized quickly that they were responding to the flatlining heart monitor. And given their shocked and relieved reactions, seeing Danny upright and moving was not the situation they expected to come to.

As quickly as they had rushed, the doctor quickly stopped his two nurses and let out an exclamation in a language that Danny couldn’t recognize. He pointed to the female nurse, who nodded and ran out of the room as fast as she could. The doctor and the remaining nurse turned back to Danny and showed their hands, almost as if they were telling him they were unarmed.

Danny raised his own hands, showing he was unarmed. “Hey, I don’t know if you can understand me. I’m not a threat.” He promised. “But can you please tell me where I am?”

Both the doctor and the nurse looked puzzled at this and quickly turned to each other. After a quick exchange, the nurse stepped forward, hands raised slightly to show that he didn’t have anything in hand as he entered the room.

Danny really didn’t know why they were so cautious towards him. Most hospitals he knew were quick to start rushing him back into bed and begin taking his vitals and all. But these doctors seemed more wary to enter. Almost as if they’ve been through this before.

Danny wondered for a brief moment if they found out he had ghost abilities while he was unconscious. Could that be possible? Regardless, the Fenton knew that his place wasn’t here asking questions. If this wasn’t the Ghost Zone, it was all the more reason he had to quickly make his way home. 

“Like I said, I really don’t know if you can understand me,” The Ghost boy said as he backed up to the window. “But I need to leave and…..” He hesitated, the pain in his heart almost engrossing him again. “... take care of things. I’m not staying here.”

The doctor, looking confused, turned to the nurse, who raised his hands again and quickly spoke another sentence that Danny couldn’t understand. 

Whatever they were or weren’t agreeing on didn’t matter to Danny in the moment. All he knew was that, regardless of back or emotional pain, he still had his loved ones to look after. And he couldn’t do that while here. 

Danny turned away from them and flexed his arms out, taking a deep breath before gritting his teeth. “I’m going Ghost!” 

He felt a pulse of energy build up inside of him and begin to expand out towards his exterior and interior…. before coming to a grinding stop.

Danny instantly felt himself waver and stumble once more, only this had nothing to do with shock. It was more absolute anger and frustration. Flashbacks to what got him here in the first place.

“No….” Danny flexed again. And again, nothing. “No no no… NO!” He tried again. Nothing. “What happened to me? Why can’t I….” Another failure. Another one to chock up to his record. He would always fail. Just like he failed to save his family in the first place. 

He was cursed. Hexed. Worse than anything. He wasn’t a hero. He wasn’t even close. He didn’t even know where he was. He didn’t know how he was even going to get home to put his family to rest.

He was a FAILURE.

As he began to feel the doubts and guilt linger upon him, a voice snapped him out of his trance.

“Please…. wait.” 

Danny turned to see the nurse, his hand outstretched in a stop motion and his eyes pleading. And, for the first time, the Ghost boy really got a look at the man’s eyes. They weren’t pleading for him to leave already. It wasn’t laced with fear for a ghost as Danny had seen many times before. The man’s expression portrayed one of determination. An absolute one that was focused on Danny. A comforting one. One that proudly displayed that he wanted, more than anything, to help the boy. 

“We...help.” The nurse said through some thought and confusion as he tried to find the correct words. He motioned outside the hall. “Help… coming. Please…. stay.”

“I can’t stay here!” Danny exclaimed angrily as his fists clenched in absolute frustration. “I need to get back to them! I… I need to make sure they… they get a proper burial.” Every word leaving his mouth was another punch in the gut for him. 

“We…. can…. help…get home.” The nurse said with a string of struggle. “Let…us….. help.” 

Danny looked on in a bit of shock for a moment, before he actually felt a shift of relief in his chest. He didn’t know how best to explain but… it felt good just to have someone reaching their hand out in an honest attempt to help him.

This man’s expression never faltered. And, seeing as Danny had really no idea where he was or how to get back home without his powers, wasn’t it easier to accept the help of someone so willing to give it?

Seeing that he had no other alternative, Danny lowered his arms and slowly nodded, taking deep breaths as he did so. That brief moment of relief was enough for him to regain his bearings and sense slightly. He knew freaking out wouldn’t do anything to help the situation. And trying to run would only make things worse. For now, he just had to follow through with the option in front of him.

Danny made his way back to his hospital bed and sat, burying his face in his hands as he did so. He really didn’t want to talk any further to them. For now, he just…. really needed a moment to process what had happened to him. Everything that had happened to him. 

Thankfully, the nurse and the doctor seemed to understand, as they kept their distance and talked to each other.

It was only a few minutes of silence, but it still gave the Ghost boy the moment he so desperately needed. He really had no time to breathe, since Clockwork decided to attack him not even a full minute after everything happened. Now, with no other choice but to wait, Danny felt the tears begin to well in his eyes and his body shake, trying its best to come to terms with everything he had lost. 

His Mom, Dad, sister, friends. Danny still found himself hoping this was all some kind of horrible nightmare. But he wasn’t waking up. There was never going to be a way to wake up from this.

It was about that time that the halfa heard the door to his room open a second time. And he turned to find what was possibly the oddest thing he had ever seen. 

A woman and man had entered the room.

The woman had long back hair and a long coat with a simple blue t-shirt and jeans. She had green eyes and an uncertain look about her, but that wasn’t the oddity Danny was focused on.

She was completely purple, her hands and face a dark violet color to accent the stretching lines that seemed etched into her very fingers.

Beside her, the man seemed to be made entirely of wood. His arms were a solid oak, ending in these molded hands that moved with relative ease and a bit of a nervous energy as he entered the room. His head was entirely encased in a wooden helmet of sorts, leaving the only visible thing his examining eyes. He wore a blue and red suit that seemed to shine all the more brightly as he advanced towards Danny’s bed.

The doctors and nurses around her seemed unphased at their appearance. That couldn’t be said for Danny. 

“Whoa!” He jumped up in shock, startling those around him. “Who are you guys?!” 

He was in absolute shock. They weren’t ghosts. That much he knew, as his ghost sense hadn’t kicked in at all. But that left him with far more questions than answers. If they weren’t ghosts, what were they? And why were they here?

Where in the world was he? 

The nurse who had been talking before, recovering from his shock, moved forward to talk to him again, but stopped when the woman held a hand out. 

She looked at Danny rather quizzically, almost as if she couldn’t believe his reaction. 

The man seemed equally as confused. “You… haven’t heard of us before?” 

Danny, after a spark of joy that this man spoke English, went back to confusion. “No? I feel like I would have heard something by now about a talking tree and a purple woman.”

The man and the woman still looked mystified, but the tree man stepped forward, a comforting expression settling across his wooden features. “May I ask your name?”

“Danny,” The Ghost boy replied, seeing no sense in hiding his identity at the moment. “Danny Fenton.” 

“It’s good to see you’re recovering so well, Fenton.” The man said genuinely. “I am the Pro Hero Kamui Woods, one of the main pros charged with safeguarding the city.” He pointed at the woman beside him. “This is Bypass. She’s a pro hero that specializes in hospital work and the overall medical field.”

“Pro Hero?” Danny asked in even more astonishment, feeling his skin almost go entirely cold at the mention of the word “hero”. You’re not a hero. The doubt in his mind rippled again. What kind of hero can’t save his family? He put that feeling aside for now and continued. “What do you mean ‘pro’?” 

Kamui looked even more startled at that revelation. “You don’t know what a pro hero is?” 

Danny shook his head. “First I’m hearing of it.” 

“Even the United States has pros of their own.” Kamui replied in more confusion. “Where exactly are you from, Fenton?” 

“Amity Park.” Danny replied in confusion of his own. “Like I said, I’ve never heard of a pro hero. Or of any heroes in general. What exactly do they do?”

Kamui still looked partially confused (Danny couldn’t blame him. He was confused as well.), but he still straightened at Danny’s question. “Pro Heroes are the pinnacle of our society here in Japan. We lead the front lines in the fight against any villains that hope to usurp the long standing peace that we have established or any innocent person that may be in their way. We’re the protectors of everything this world holds dear.”

Danny almost completely reeled back. “Wait… actual superheroes? When did…..Japan?” He repeated quietly. “.... Japan?”

“Mustafu, Japan, to be exact.” Kamui Woods added. “And I take it from your expression that’s it not somewhere you planned to be.”

Danny was too lost in thought to reply immediately. What was he doing in Japan? More importantly, why Japan? What possible reason could Clockwork have for sending him here? And since when were there other heroes on the scene?

He could have thrown me in the Ghost Zone if he really wanted to get rid of me, Danny thought, wincing as his back twitched in pain with every shocked flare of movement on his part. So why send me somewhere I can take a plane back?

“Why Japan?” Danny muttered out loud in thought, prompting a response from Kamui Woods.

“That’s what we were hoping you could tell us. We don’t often have Americans just pop up in our streets unannounced.” Kamui pointed to the woman beside. “You’re better off talking to the doctors about this. They can help you far more than I can.” He nodded to her. “Setsuzoko, you’re up.” 

“Um… up with what?” Danny wondered before seeing the woman step towards him, palm open. The Ghost boy instinctively drew back, but Kamui held up his hand.

“It’s okay, Fenton. Really. She’s here to help.”

The woman nodded earnestly and spoke a few more words of Japanese before reaching her hand out once again.

Danny still didn’t know if he could fully trust, but Kamui seemed to be nothing but friendly so far. And Danny was never one to not give the benefit of the doubt. So, with a suspicious glance, he allowed her to take his arm.

Almost instantly, there was an inhuman flare of energy that shot up his arm and towards his head in the time it took him to blink, seemingly settling and molding into his brain in no time at all.

He instantly surged and he moved to tear her hand away before, all at once, he calmed. Danny felt a sense of euphoria wash over him and he slumped back into his bed, looking on in a bit of shock as blue lines of light travelled up his arm and up his neck.

“What are you doing?” He asked in a daze. “Why are you…?”

“彼はまだ鎮痛剤の影響下にあるかもしれません.... His hometown he keeps referencing to doesen’t seem to exist.”

“効果 not last this long. In all regards, his mind should be totally fine. He has to be telling the truth.”

Danny felt his eyes widen as he realized it was both the doctor and the nurse talking. In clear English. 

That should have been impossible… but then again, Danny has seen the impossible before. But something like this…. 

“How did she do that?” He asked Kamui in amazement. 

“Quite simply, actually.” The clear and pristine voice of Setsuzoko said, startling Danny. “My Quirk can access the nodes of the brain that control the understanding of language. I can shift it at my will and change things around so that certain people can speak certain languages and understand them as well. To put it simply,” She smiled. “You can speak and understand Japanese now.”

“You can just… change my mind like that?” Danny asked, feeling his head, then his own lips. He heard himself speaking English, but his mouth was making different shapes and sounds. Exactly as Setsuzoku had said, it seemed like he was speaking a completely different language. A rush unlike anything that Danny had ever felt pulsed within him. He…. wasn’t the only superpowered person. “How the heck did you do that? Where did you get your powers from? How is it you two aren’t across every news outlet in the world yet?”

Now, it was Setsuzoko’s turn to be confused. “I got it from my Mother and Father. She can put thoughts into people's heads while my Father could form physical words around himself. Their Quirks combined to make mine. It’s just a generational thing. Normal for everybody. We’re pros, but for Japan. We don’t have worldwide renown.”

“Generational?” Those words made Danny’s hair stand on edge. With a bit of nervousness to his tone, he turned to Kamui. “How long was I out for?”

“Only a couple of days.” Kamui answered, which lessened Danny’s breathing more. 

“And how long have things been like this? People with superpowers like this?”

Kamui and Setsuzuko looked at one another before looking back at Danny. “Are you well, Fenton-San? You still have your memories, yes?” 

“Yeah! I’m fine.” Danny said, trying to hide the fear creeping into his voice. It couldn’t be. It can’t be. “Please…. how long?”

“All the world's societies have been Quirk based for probably about two-hundred years now.” Kamui answered.

Danny placed his hand on his heavily beating heart. “Have either of you ever heard of a Ghost Boy in the US? Or of a town that just vanishes into thin air sometimes?”

“No, I have not.” Kamui Woods replied, his tone sure.

“Should I have?” Setsuzuko asked. “Because nothing like that is sparking in my memory.”

And all at once, Danny’s guilt was slammed and sandwiched into the sheer horror of the revelation that had just rammed into him. He felt his weight shift back like a dead weight as he fell back and slammed back into his pillow, worrying both heroes around him. They quickly surged forward and began calling for the doctor, but Danny held up his hand.

“I-I’m fine, Kamui, Setsuzoko. Really.” He said in between very deep and labored breaths.“I… I just need some water.” 

Bypass quickly nodded and went to retrieve him a glass. 

“Are you sure you're okay?” Kamui asked.

“Yeah, I am. I just…” Danny looked to the heroes for a moment before he found himself looking back out the blackened window… and towards the new reality that presented itself. “....I think I’m a lot farther from home than I ever imagined I would be….”

“What do you mean?” Kamui asked.

Danny took a deep breath. “I… really don’t think this is my world anymore.” 

…

“What’s your verdict, Woods?” Police Officer Tsukauchi asked as he looked on at the resting boy from the small window looking into the room.

“My verdict?” The hero asked, looking back at the officer. “.... I really don’t think he’s lying to us.”

“Woods, you can’t believe that.” Doctor Burokku, one of the main medical heads for the hospital and Seicho’s superior, said incredulously. “Granted, we have seen a lot of special cases before, but I seriously doubt that you can believe he comes from a ‘Quirkless World’ with a ‘ghost dimension’ as he said.” 

“Well, what reason would he have to lie?” Seicho heard himself ask, garnering the attention of both Officer Tsukauchi, Doctor Borokku and the Pro Hero. He wasn’t prepared to be a center of attention, but he stood tall. “Fenton-san has literally just woken up. He’s scared, confused and in shock. Believe me, he has really no intention of lying.” 

“Even the most shocked people have been known to lie, Seicho,” Borokku replied with a frown. “What makes you so sure he wouldn’t? For all we know, he’s just making this all up to cover what he’s done.”

“You didn’t see his eyes, doctor,” Seicho replied confidently, remembering back to the fearful and wild look Fenton had held in his eyes when he first woke up. “That is a person who’s coming off of something incredibly horrible. Something that, in all likelihood, could have broken him if it wasn’t for his own mental resilience. He’s not looking to lie to any of us. He’s just trying to process all of this.”

Seicho has seen his fair share of shell shocked people, especially when he first became a nurse that handled hero and villain based injuries. There was no shortage of mental scarring that could occur from being involved with those kinds of fights. And Seicho knew firsthand what it felt like to be in one of those fights. So, on some level, he related to Fenton-san.

“You believe this alternate world theory, Nurse Seicho?” Tsukauchi asked.

“Not exactly.” The nurse replied in pure honesty. “No. We would need a lot more evidence before I’m convinced of that. But…” He looked back beyond the glass and towards Fenton, who laid on the hospital bed back first, his expression a mutation of confusion, sadness and anger. “I do know that he’s been through some serious circumstances. And that if he was in league with the villains, he would have lashed out at Woods by now. Heck, at everyone. Nothing would spike more controversy then an attack on a hospital while heroes were on guard. Plus…” He looked back at Fenton. “He really doesn't look like the type to do something like that.”

“I agree,” Kamui Woods piped in, shocking Seicho. It was not often a pro hero agreed with him. “If Fenton was indeed a villain, he wouldn’t have missed an opportunity to strike at me, much less the civilians packing the hospital. He just seems more lost than anything.”

“About as lost as we are,” Tsukauchi said, looking down at the papers in front of him. “All bloodwork analysis came back unknown for his identity or his family. In both Japan and the United States.” He looked back to Doctor Borruko. “Is there anyone who matches with his Quirk?”

“Well, the Quirk he claims to have, ‘ghost powers’, didn’t come up as a match with anyone in Japan or the US.” Borruko replied. “But we haven’t seen him use it at all yet, so it’s unconfirmed that those are even the powers he really has.” 

“He could have been taken off the grid by someone.” Woods said, a hand pressed against his wooden chin. “We’ve had certain villains and vigilantes do that before to keep us off their trail.” 

“A possibility,” Tsukauchi agreed. “But why would he only remember a fictional city he lived in instead of a real one? And why does he speak exclusively English? If he was raised here in Japan, you’d think he’d at least know some Japanese.” He sighed. “I had hoped we would get some answers when he woke up. Instead, I have even more questions.” 

Seicho evaluated the situation at hand. Fenton was clearly in a lot of emotional pain and suffering even more given the apparent circumstances he was in. The nurse in training was confident that Danny had told them what he knew. He couldn’t be one-hundred percent sure, but he just felt the boy wasn’t holding anything back. Not in his state. He just wanted to get things off his chest. 

He seemed so unfamiliar with the current society and the way of things, especially Quirks. The boy seemed utterly confused and fascinated with the idea that everyone had one, which, if he WAS from a parallel world where nobody had Quirks, Seicho couldn’t blame him. 

In the nurse’s opinion, the best thing they could do for Fenton was release him and let him decompress for the moment. Pushing him anymore wouldn’t wield anything better. Maybe just letting him live for a while will open up his mind more. 

And, lucky enough for Seicho, Tsukauchi seemed to come to the same verdict.

“Are there any other tests you need from him, doctor?” The officer asked.

“Nothing at the moment, no.” Borruku answered confidently.

“Then there’s nothing else we can really get from him at the moment,” Tsukauchi said. “Let’s give him some release forms and get him relocated.”

“To where, may I ask?” Kamui Woods asked as Borruko nodded and moved to retrieve the sheets.

“Well, since he has no close family in Japan, I’d say it would be prudent to put him into one of the foster care systems.” Tsukauchi said. “From there, we can see what becomes of him and if he can recall or reveal anymore about himself.”

“Foster care?” Sechio asked, almost incredulously. He approached the policeman. “With all due respect, Officer Tsukauchi, I really don’t think Fenton will do well with the foster care system.”

“They’ve dealt with a number of young people in Fenton’s situation: lost and without a family to return to.” Tsukauchi replied, his tone betraying the sadness he felt with the number of kids there were in that situation. “They know how to handle the situation better than the hospital staff.”

“But this is an irregular situation,” Seicho argued, looking back at the boy. “Whatever Fenton has seen, it’s SEVERELY scarred him mentally. And I really don’t think being in a place where he could end up with anyone or just being in a place with a lot of kids missing their families would do anything to help him out.” 

“What’s the alternative?” Kamui asked. “He is not old enough to live on his own and he has no prior references to take up parental housing as a sidekick.”

At that, Seicho felt his lips tighten. He knew none of the options currently available to Fenton wouldn’t help him in the slightest. It never helped him, so he doubted it would for the kid. 

And every other option required years of study or connections in order to be established there. The only option was guardianship. And, with no relatives to Fenton’s name, Seicho could only see one option.

“I’ll take him in.” Seicho said with a determined nod, prompting both Tsukauchi and Woods to turn to him in a bit of shock. “I’ll be his guardian for the time being.”

“Seicho,” Tsukauchi said with a worried look. “You don’t have to do this. Don’t feel responsibility because of something that’s happened in the past. If you’re not prepared to house-“

“That was years ago, Tsukauchi,” Seicho said with a determined look of his own. “We all have to move on someday. Right now, that kid needs help. He probably had a hell of a lot going through his head. And I can understand what he’s going through. I can do this.” 

Tsukauchi was silent for a moment before a small smile appeared on his expression and he nodded. “Okay,” He agreed. “I trust you on this, Seicho. I can appoint you as Fenton’s guardian if you’re sure.”

Seicho smiled back and gave a small bow of thanks. “I will not let you down, Tsukauchi.” He didn’t think it appropriate to mention the large amount of nerves that pulsed down his spine, but it was far outweighed by the drive he had to help Fenton.

He had failed to help himself at many points in his life. But since he was a child, he had always wanted to be a hero. And he hoped he could be a hero in part to Fenton. He really hoped he could.

…

It had been about four or five hours since he had awoken. And Danny was no longer shocked, to say the very least. Instead, he was feeling a very odd combination of mocked, yet chaotically curious, alongside the throb in his heart. But even the throb was lessened to an extent. When compared to what he was feeling when he looked at what was displayed on his mounted room TV, the guilt was a pretty far distance when coming to terms exactly where he was. 

In front of him laid a small tray, once complimented and filled with three dishes in total: roast pork in onion sauce, mixed salad with shirasu on the side, a bowl of white rice and vegetable miso. At least, that’s what the nurse had told him when he initially dropped it off for lunch. 

Danny did admit it was pretty good. Better than anything he had been served in a hospital before (heck, even some things he had been served at home), but still unusual to his taste. He was more of a burger and fries guy. But hey. When he was as hungry as he was just about an hour ago, you’re more than willing to try new things. And that was no exception to Danny. 

On the TV was a red and blue adorned tower of a man, with a large ever-present smile and blond hair that twisted back in almost the way of two horns. His massive biceps and muscles bulged from underneath his costume and he stood proudly and guffawing in front of a burning building, keeping both of his hands on the gaggle of small kids he had just saved from the disaster. 

Across the screen, Japanese letters and symbols blared proudly in the lower bar, alongside side text that scrolled very quickly by. Not that it mattered to Danny.

Bypass’s superp-... Quirk allowed Danny to hear Japanese as English, but he definitely couldn’t read it. At the moment, the language still looked so foreign to the young American student, who knew that this would mean he would have to learn it one way or another if he was stuck here for the time being. 

“Great,” Danny muttered as he turned up the volume on his TV. “I can barely pass my English class back in my own world with a language I actually know. I don’t think my luck is going to improve when it comes to learning Japanese.” 

Although he did quip to himself about it, his attention wasn’t focused on that fact at the moment. Rather it was focused on the now audible uproarious laughter from the large man, alongside the cheers of the crowd. 

“All Might’s done it again!” The reporter yelled just as loud to be heard over the crowd. “The Number One Hero arrived mere moments after a large apartment fire sparked to life in downtown Mustafu! With the speed to make Ingenium jealous, he saved every occupant in the building in the space of a minute! Including these seven children!”

The kids in question, sooty and blackened but beaming completely, all let out cheers alongside the crowd, letting out an assortment of colored beams and sprouting plants, wings and webbed feet. 

It still came as such a blow to the mind to the young Fenton that this world had SO MANY people with various powers and abilities. He had to admit, he thought many times how cool it would be to be part of a super powered team of sorts. He had discussed it many times with Tucker in the past. Now to see so many people at once with all these out of these world abilities to choose from…. It was insanity. 

And the brief thought of his old friend was enough to send another crashing guilt down. He felt another tear leak down his cheek once again before he straightened and sighed.

Trying to break his thoughts away from his home, he focused back on the man, All Might, as he patted the children on their heads with his massive hand.

“I was simply doing what every hero would strive to do in a similar situation!” All Might said with a smile. “Regardless of your Quirk, always remember you can make a difference! No matter the circumstances, you can always decide to become a hero when no one else will step up! That’s what being a hero is all about! Taking the risks and protecting someone who needs your help!” He laughed again and gave a wave. “Now! I will let the fire department do their job! Keep your distance, kids! AS THE NUMBER ONE HERO MAKES A DRAMATIC EXIT!!!” 

He flexed out his arms as if in preparation for a run, then all but vanished in front of the entire crowd, kicking up smoke and wind around the crowd alongside a boom of power that was like a jet fighter reaching maximum speed.

The crowd was astounded for a moment, then let loose another large cheer, siding up alongside the all person chant that echoed through the TV speakers. “ALL MIGHT! ALL MIGHT! ALL MIGHT! ALL MIGHT!”

Danny was a mind of two feelings at the moment, looking on as the news reporter switched to the next segment on her list. On the one hand, he was happy to see there was a world where heroes were appreciated so much. In his own world, his deeds were seen by a LOT of people as bad just because he was a ghost. Here, it didn’t matter who you were or what powerset you had. If you were a hero who helped the innocent, you were celebrated. Through and through. And it was great to see that, in a world full of powers, there were so many that wanted to help other people. Danny knew that feeling all too well. 

On the other hand, Danny felt like a butt end of a joke at his expense. Here he was, someone who couldn’t even save his own family when it mattered, surrounded by heroes who continually saved and continually succeeded. Where everything was successful around everything hero. 

He had been a hero in his own world, he thought. But looking at all of this, how could he even call himself that when he failed to protect what mattered most in the moment. How can he ever be called that again.

Failure. Reject. Useless.

“Ah, a fan of All Might, I see?”

Danny jumped, startled at the sudden entrance of Officer Tsukauchi and the nurse who had tried to talk to him when he first woke up. 

“Oh! Officer Tsukauchi! What’s up?” Danny asked, trying to hide his startled nature as he turned down the volume on the TV. 

He was still trying to learn a lot of people’s names, but Tsukauchi he had come to know very well over the past couple of hours. He was the one who had been conducting the interviews that revolved around if Danny was involved with any villain groups or cartels or questionable people in general. And, while Danny was well aware that when everyone had powers, not all of them would turn to good, he was surprised just how many criminal organizations had been created in the wake of the Quirks appearing. Some people just wanted to watch the world burn apparently. 

To the officer’s credit, he didn’t show if he had noticed Danny’s jump or not. He just kept his gaze on the TV and smiled. “It still just baffles me how powerful he is at times. You have to wonder how he manages to do it all.”

“Yeah,” Danny agreed, looking back to the newscast as it proudly displayed numerous photos of All Might saving every resident in the building, ignoring the secondary pulse of guilt. “What exactly is his Quirk anyway?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it?” Tsukauchi said with a small chuckle. “Most of Japan is wondering the same question. He keeps it pretty private, apparently.”

Danny raised an eyebrow as he looked back to the TV. “The most powerful and popular hero in the world and nobody knows his power?” The Ghost boy asked aloud. “Wow. I figured anyone who was a top hero like that would want everyone to know how he does it.” 

“Some heroes prefer their privacy.” Officer Tsukauchi replied. “If you tell them your Quirk, they can track you through your family and never leave them alone. And they’ll constantly harass you while off duty. Some heroes just want to do their work and keep away from the talk shows.” 

Danny could understand that. Ever since he had first gotten his powers, he hadn’t wanted anyone to bother his family or friends for the actions he took. Plus, him being a ghost with a ghost hunter family probably wouldn’t have worked out well if he went public.

“Anyway, I just wanted to see how you were doing, check on your back and deliver some news.”

News? Danny’s curiosity peaked as he twisted himself in his bed to face the officer. “I’m doing… okay.” Danny admitted. “My back is doing a lot better though. I can twist around at least without the excruciating pain that came as an appetizer.”

“That’s great to hear, Fenton-san.” Tsukauchi said as the nurse beside him scribbled on a notepad before stepping fully forward. “I’m sure you recognize Nurse Seicho, the one who initially calmed you down and actually the one who first picked you up and brought you here.”

“Yeah, of course,” Danny replied with only a slight smile. He had nothing against Seicho. Heck, he actually really liked him. It was just harder to put on a full smile these days. Nevertheless, he extended his hand in greeting towards the young black-haired nurse. “Good to see you again.”

“Likewise,” Seicho said with a smile. 

“Seicho is here to offer his support in a certain matter.” Tsukauchi said with a confident smile.

Danny sighed. “Look, Tsukauchi, we’ve been through this so many times. I really don’t know any of these villains you’re referencing. I really don’t think having Seicho with me is going to change the fact that I don’t know anyone.”

“It’s not related to that. We’re aware now that you’re clean from any sinister ties.” The officer pointed to the nurse. “Seicho has volunteered to be your Guardian while you’re here in Japan. And has accepted your accommodations into his home.”

Danny blinked. “Wait, what?”

“He will allow you to live with him for the time being,” Tsukauchi clarified. “Since the hospital expects to release you soon and we can’t very well have a fourteen year old boy wandering on his own across Mustafu.”

“I’m just… surprised it’s happening so fast.” Danny said in shock. “Usually, it takes a while to become a guardian to anyone.” He remembered back to what Vlad had said about how long it would take to legally look after him if that would ever become necessary. 

“We’ve had to speed the process since Quirks became widespread.” Tsukauchi said, with some grim nature across his tone. “Most kids need supervision quite fast in regards to what their Quirks entail and they cannot be left to stew for long. So we found ways to quicken the guardianship process so those with powerful Quirks can be properly looked after. And not fall into any kind of villain nature.” 

Danny took a moment to process all of that. It made sense, especially given that anyone could have any given power at any time. But it also spoke volumes to the Fenton about how dangerous the world could be. Even in one that wasn’t his own. 

Bad guys will still be bad guys, Danny thought as he turned to face the two men. No matter what world. “And you’re okay with this?” Danny asked the nurse. “You really don’t even know what kind of roommate I’m going to turn out to be.”

“As long as you're not tearing down my house, I’m fine with anything you can throw at me.” Seicho replied with a genuine smile. “Trust me, I’ve had my own experiences with a messy roommate. You can’t be worse than what I’ve already seen.” He motioned to Danny. “Plus, it’s obvious that your situation is not a standard one, so who better to take you in then a person who can medically help you if things happen.”

“Well, when you put it that way, it makes it sound like I might explode at any minute,” Danny said in slight humor, then held up his hand as Seicho quickly backpedaled to try and apologize. “It’s okay, Seicho. Really.”

Danny considered. He REALLY just wanted to return to his own world and his own home, but he knew that wasn’t exactly an option at the moment. Even though the police didn’t believe it, he knew that his home was not anywhere to be seen on this planet. And, unless there were any Quirks that could warp time and space, he didn’t think anyone here could help him return. Danny seriously doubted that he had the skill set or the knowledge to return home on his own either. Which meant, for all intensive purposes, he was stuck. 

And, since he was stuck, he knew that staying here in the hospital without leaving would probably not be a good use of his time. Besides just some INTENSE curiosity, Danny thought back to his dives into the Ghost Zone. Tucker and Sam’s strategy in those situations (besides avoiding getting caught by some crazy strong ghosts that made a habit of taking strolls where he was exploring) was often to take in his surroundings and try to work based on what he had in front of him.

He may not have been in the Ghost Zone, but he knew that was probably the smart thing to do here. Plus, in that moment, he really just wanted to be around people that had some kind of happiness to them. And Seicho really did seem like one of those people.

“Hey, I’m not going to argue with a change of view.” Danny said with a smile. It was good to have a slight bit of humor, even in light of everything. His Dad had taught him that more than anyone else. The two men both smiled at that, which gave Danny a little bit of a boost. “When do we leave?”

“Tonight, preferably. If that’s okay.” Seicho said, crossing his arms. “Mostly because I work the day shift and it would be easier to do the house tour when I’m actually there.” He chuckled at that. 

Danny nodded. “That sounds good.” 

Tsukauchi smiled as well. “I’m glad to see that you’re on board with all of this, Fenton-san.” The officer said. “I am sorry that we haven’t found a way back home for you yet. I know you’re anxious to go back.”

“It’s alright,” Danny said genuinely. “Thanks for trying.” The boy had expected the officers to come up short, as he had doubted that they would be able to find their way back to his reality. But it was still a little disheartening to hear. There was no easy way back. Danny was on his own in that department. And he’d have to make do. “But thank you both for doing this. Really. I don’t think I would have been able to find my way around Japan on my own. It’s nice to know that you’ll have my back on this, Seicho.” 

“I’m happy to help any way I can.” Seicho said with a nod as Tsukauchi spoke again beside him.

“Well, if everyone’s okay with this arrangement, I’ll go finish up the details on it.” Tsukauchi turned back to the entrance/exit and turned the handle before looking back to the boy. “Before I go, have you made any progress with your Quirk?” 

Danny shook his head no. “My powers haven’t surfaced at all yet since I got here. I’ll keep trying though.”

Tsukauchi nodded at that. “If you need any help or make a breakthrough, feel free to contact me if you need anything.” With that, the officer fully opened the door and exited the room.

Seicho looked at Danny in worried surprise. “You still haven’t been able to access your Quirk?”

“Not at the moment, no.” Danny replied sheepishly. “I KNOW it’s there. It’s just… I can’t get it to appear anymore. Last time was my fifth try and still nothing.”

Seicho looked as if he had a thought on the matter, but seemingly kept it to himself as he pursed his lips. “I’m sure there’s a way to access it. From what you told us, you’ve accessed it many times before. What’s different now?”

“That’s the problem. I don’t know.” Danny looked to his hands in frustration. “Nothing feels weird. I feel the same as I did before getting here. I should be able to access my powers like I always do. But they’re just not showing up.”

Seicho stayed quiet for a moment before speaking. “Maybe there’s a new tick to it. A new way of accessing it. If you can still feel it, maybe it’s not being repressed. Maybe it’s just waiting for the right call.” 

Danny arched an eyebrow. “You think?” He looked back at his hands. He had always been able to access his powers pretty easily before. It usually only took a thought and a flex. If his powers had a new way of being called out…. Danny would have to start from scratch, which scared and enthused the boy at the same time.

Already this world was changing him. Weather for better or worse, Danny couldn’t tell yet.

“It’s just my theory at the moment,” Seicho said with a tone of uncertainty. “Mostly because it sometimes happens to some of the people I care for. That doesn't necessarily mean it’s the same for you, but there are similarities.” The man regarded Danny curiously. “Speaking of which, what exactly is your Quirk?”

Danny pursed his lips. “You probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you. Tsukauchi didn’t even seem to fully believe it.” 

“Believe me,” Seicho said reassuringly. “I’ve seen quite a few weird and odd Quirks in my time that I worked here. Nothing really surprises me anymore.” 

The Ghost boy regarded him for a moment before sighing. “Well, lets just say my Quirk…” He hesitated. “It… gives me all the powers of a Ghost.” 

Seicho turned his head. “A… ghost? Like of the haunted house kind?” 

Danny nodded. It felt really weird to be describing his powers once again, especially to what was essentially a stranger. “Possession, flying, intangibility, invisibility. Everything from a ghost movie and more. It was a lot to control in the beginning, but I was getting the hang of it. You know, until now.”

Seicho eyes widened. “Wow. That’s a pretty large skill set for one person to have.” The nurse whistled in more astonishment. “If you get control of your Quirk and you have all of these abilities to your name, you could be a heck of a force to be reckoned with. Pro hero material even.”

At that, Danny felt another pulse of outright pain in his chest. He looked down, trying his best to hide the sudden clench of his fists. “Yeah.” He said simply, his tone straight.

Failure.

Seicho’s inquisitive look turned into one of concern at Danny’s turn away. “Oh! I didn’t mean to offend you in any way! I apologize!” 

“No.” Danny said, trying to regain the average tone in his voice. “You really didn’t know. You have nothing to apologize for.” 

Seicho still looked concerned and looked to say something more. “Fenton-san, I-“ That’s when his watch went off. With a quick check, he sighed. “Unfortunately, I have to return to my shift.” He looked back to Danny with worry. “I really didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable or anything.”

“I know you didn’t,” Danny said with a small smile. “You don’t have to worry about me right now, Seicho. More importantly, shouldn’t you be worried about work?”

“That I should be!” Seicho quickly agreed as he turned back to the door and opened it. As he stepped out, he looked back towards the Ghost boy. “We’ll talk more tonight on the way to my home. I’m sure you have a LOT of questions.” With one last smile, Seicho closed the door and vanished.

“More than you can imagine.” Danny said quietly, slowly laying back down on his hospital bed, his thoughts going a thousand miles an hour. It was a hundred pounds of pressure on his chest, all of this information regarding this new world as well as everything that has happened. Danny felt like screaming at the top of his lungs, but he found his energy more going towards remembering what Clockwork had told him before he was thrown into this world. 

"There is nothing left for you here, boy. Only pain and fury."

"Go forth, Danny Fenton. Rise above. And become the hero you were made to be."

He really didn’t like Clockwork, especially for sending him here in the first place. But, thinking back on it, he really didn’t seem like the type to send him here out of hate. It seemed like he was genuinely trying to help him…. In his own screwed up way.

He could have sent Danny anywhere. Yet he chose here. Did he really want to help Danny become a better hero?

“Only one way to find out for sure,” Fenton said as he looked back out the window at the cityscape. “And it’s not going to happen if I keep laying here.”

…

Another four hours of work. But to Seicho, it felt like eight lifetimes. 

Which his mind had convinced him was both good and bad. Bad because he really just wanted to talk to the boy and help him out. He knew the kind of situation he faced. And, if he could just talk to him on some matters, he could save Fenton-san a lot of heartache down the road. He couldn’t do that when working.

But good, because after VISIBLY making Fenton-san upset at the mention of becoming a pro, Seicho really needed time to kind of regroup what he was going to say. 

It had been a LONG while since he was fourteen (ten years now) and, while he had his own way of dealing with things when he was that age, Fenton-san would have his own as well. He had to kind of change things around about the way he approached and talked to the boy. He didn’t want to upset him any further. He really just wanted to help him.

Finally, after helping two more kids dealing with Quirk management and one injured man that was thrown from a roof by a villain, 8:00 rolled around and Seicho was allowed to leave.

Nervous anticipation began to build once more as he approached the room that Fenton was held in. He was caught by surprise when he found a handwritten letter taped to the glass pane of the door window, addressed to him. He quickly opened it.

Seicho,

Fenton-san’s release papers were approved early and, as a result, he found the opportunity to explore the exterior of the hospital too tempting to resist. He should be outside waiting for you. 

Officer Tsukauchi 

Okay, Seicho said with a sort of mental laugh. Perhaps he felt a bit more pent up then I had imagined. 

It was good for Fenton to jump at an opportunity to leave his hospital room. That meant he still had a drive to explore and more of a will to get out of bed then young Seicho did.

All that being said, the didn’t stop the young nurse from feeling a beat of panic upon exiting the Mustafu Hospital only to find the courtyard outside completely empty. 

He REALLY hoped he hadn’t just placed trust in a kid who bolted the first chance he got. Understandable if he was really curious and paranoid after whatever happened to him, but still nothing that Seicho would have chosen to deal with at this particular time.

“Fenton-san!” Seicho called out as he descended the steps and into the courtyard itself. The area was only moderately lit by the various lights of the buildings and the lights of the hospital behind them. Not nearly enough to get a full scope of the large area that made up the courtyard. The majority of it was laced in darkness, giving Seicho not enough seeing distance and even more worry to boot.

“Fenton-san!” Seicho called out again, this time with a little more stress in his voice. He was about to pull out his phone (an old hospital issued flip phone after his previous was smashed) and call Tsukauchi to either yell at him or assure him that Fenton’s ditching was not any fault of his when a familiar voice called back to him.

“I’m here, Seicho.” Danny Fenton said from the side of the courtyard stooped in darkness, but leading a view into the heart of the city itself, a parade of lights and scaling structures that put many other cities to shame.

As Seicho approached, the boy smiled apologetically. “I was just checking out the scale of things. Where I’m from is not exactly a huge place like this. I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to make you worry. Or have you lose your mind over there.” Fenton was decked out in a pure white shirt with black jeans to compliment. 

Seeing as how his previous clothes were peppered and torn by the onslaught of impact he faced in the alley, it was only right to assist him by buying him new clothes. Seicho was just glad they fit.

There were still visible scars on his arms, but they were pretty much faded thanks to the two days of healing by Recovery Girl. His blue eyes had now lost their feral glaze and were now prominently advised to Seicho in humor and kick, though it didn’t do much to hide the sadness that the boy was carrying. 

Seicho shot him a mock glare. “I didn’t ‘lose my mind’. It’s just a worry when you place a little faith into a kid you helped out only to see he’s disappeared from the place he was supposed to be like a truant.”

“That’s not fair,” Fenton replied. “I was pretty dang attendant during high school. Even with the whole superpowers manifesting and dealing with evil ghosts day in and day out.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.” Seicho joked before remembering an all important rule. “Oh, right. Before we move on, there is probably something you should know, Fenton-san. In case you manage to activate your Quirk again.” His eyes stuck to the city view that Fenton was encompassed in as well. “Without a license to do so, children of high school age can’t outright use their powers to fight criminals or do hero activity. It’s illegal and a person could find themselves in a whole lot of trouble if they’re caught doing something like that.”

THAT caught Fenton’s attention. He turned to Seicho, surprise riddled across his expression. “What? You mean I can’t fight or stop criminals at all?”

“Not without going to school first and acquiring a license to do so.” Seicho replied grimly.

There was a beat of silence. “That…. REALLY doesn’t sound right,” Fenton said, the surprise never leaving his eyes. “So you’re saying if someone had the superpower someone needed to save their lives, but they were fourteen, they would get arrested for doing it? For doing the right thing?”

“Doing the right thing in this day and age can be dangerous,” Seicho said quietly. “There’s a lot of messed up people in the world, Fenton-san. Many who would have no problem killing or scarring a young kid for interfering with them in any way. It was decided a long time ago that anyone who wanted to use their Quirk to help people would need proper training first, to keep any tragedies from occurring. There’s a lot of people who want to do good in this world. But not many who are trained to do so without hurting themselves or others.”

Fenton was silent for a moment after that, looking back at the buildings housed in Mustafu, deep in thought. Seicho wished he could know exactly what the kid was thinking at the moment. If everything he had been saying about parallel worlds was true, crazy as it may sound, Seicho couldn’t even fathom what turmoil and confusion must have been playing in his mind.

“Yeah,” Fenton said finally. “I guess I kind of agree. Some people have the right idea in mind. But without training, they’ll only mess things up.”

The nurse pursed his lips. He got the sense he had entered a touchy territory. Even so, he folded his arms and sighed. “I don’t know about messing things up.” Seicho replied. “Even if they do, it’s admirable enough that they worked up the will to move forward and attempt to help. Of course, you still need a license. It’s amazingly dangerous out there. But it does at least show you’re not afraid and you’re willing to rush out to save someone, regardless of what that could do to you. You still really shouldn’t do it. But it’s admirable, at the very least.” 

Fenton didn’t really say anything after that.

Seicho, not wanting to sadden the boy even more, cleared his throat and opted to change the subject. “Hey, why don’t we head to the house? I bet you’re dying to get the tour of your new humble abode for the proceeding time.

“Humble abode?” Fenton asked with a small hint of a smirk. “I really don’t think any building, room or house is going to be humble. Especially in a big city like this.”

“You’d be surprised,” Seicho said with a grin of humor before motioning the boy to follow. “Come on. I’ll show you the way.”

It wasn’t hard to find a conversation piece after that. Seeing as how Fenton had seemingly never been to Japan till now, he had quite a bit of interest in how things worked and where the sights were. Seicho was more than happy to indulge him, telling him of all the landmarks that could be found in the country, how he could take him to see them on days off, a little on how he joined the nurse career, certain heroes in the area and, most importantly, Quirks and what varieties there were.

“And what kind of Quirk do you have, Seicho?” Fenton asked at one point as they made their way down the dimly lit sidewalk, passing by various people engaged in their own conversations. 

“Me?” Seicho replied. “Nothing special. Certainly not pro hero material.”

“I still wouldn’t mind seeing it!” Fenton replied almost incredulously. “Just the fact that so many people have powers in this world is impressive enough!”

Seicho regarded him for a moment before chuckling at his words. “Well, if you’re so insistent.” It was the first time in a long time that anyone really wondered about his Quirk. “Just don’t freak out, okay?”

“I’ve seen plenty of stuff in my life that freaked me out.” Fenton assured. “I honestly don’t think I can be freaked out any more than I already have been.” 

“Hold that thought, why don’t you?” Seicho said as he pulled a matchbox out of his pocket. He pulled out one of the sticks and quickly lit it, holding the steady flame up and out in his left hand and holding it up to his free right hand.

Fenton kind of held up his hands. “Whoa, Seicho. I didn’t mean for you to-”

“Just hold on.” Seicho said as he slowly held the flame to the skin of his finger. The instant the heat licked against his fingertip, his skin calloused into what looked to be a solid armor. The armor wasted no time coating the entirety of his hand, swallowing every visage of skin in a complete skin coating that the flame could not penetrate.

The nurse smiled at Fenton’s shocked expression. “I told you. It’s an odd one. And that’s not the only thing I can do.” He pointed to his neck, where his three scars stood prominently against the left side of his neck. “These are left over from gills that sprouted after diving into the water to grab someone. And this…” He lifted his pants leg slightly around his ankle, showing off visible scars that riddled the foot itself. “From when my foot grew extra bone and cartilage in order to catch up on a marathon run at school. THAT was not fun.”

Fenton looked at him. “Then… your power is…”

“My Quirk is Adaption.” Seicho confirmed. “After experiencing something for a certain amount of time, my body adapts and creates what is necessary to survive the situation at hand. It’s a pretty powerful force.” He sighed. “But, at the same time, it’s hard to control. I’ve never been able to get my body to INSTANTLY adapt. It has to be after a little exposure, like I said. And if a villain is quick enough, he could easily deal with me before I could Adapt to his attack. And it can sometimes pop and activate even in situations where I don’t want it to. Sometimes it’s harmless. Sometimes it’s….” He motioned to his scarred foot. “That. You can see why I’ve stuck to hospital work as opposed to hero work.” 

“Don’t be so down on yourself! That’s still a really cool Quirk.” Fenton said reassuringly as they resumed their walk. “Much cooler than some of the ghosts I’ve seen with powers before!”

Seicho kind of laughed at that, while also feeling a certain amount of curiosity towards the fact that Fenton had fought Ghosts before. Was that even possible? “If you think my Quirk is incredible, you’ve obviously never seen any of the pro heroes in action. Their Quirks are incredible. Really puts mine to all kinds of shame. All Might, Endeavor, Fat Gum, Nighteye, Mt Lady, Kamui Woods…”

“Kamui Woods?” Fenton asked in wonder as they turned the last corner towards Seicho’s house. “He’s a good fighter?”

“Oh, yeah!” Seicho said in enthusiasm. “You just haven’t seen him go all out yet. I’ve seen him take down an entire group of thugs with just a flick of his finger. A wave of tree trunks will do that pretty quickly.” 

“I bet it does.” Fenton replied before he briefly took a wondering look before looking forward and away from Seicho, his expression stooped in thought. 

It seemed like Fenton had a sad revelation of sorts, as his gaze became distant and he became deathly quiet.

Seicho looked on at the boy, but didn’t immediately snap him out of it. He had been in this situation before. And sometimes, it was best to just let the thoughts run in your head for a moment. Given the PTSD that Fenton was displaying, the nurse wanted to ensure the boy had all the time he needed to process everything that was happening around him. It was what worked best for his patients, as well as his younger self.

“Why are hero society?”

“What?”

Fenton looked to Seicho, his expression now a sad curiosity. “When so many people get powers like this at once, you’d think they would just keep it for themselves and become greedy and transparent. A lot of people would think the world would just end once everyone got power like that all at once.” He pursed his lips. “What gave everyone the idea that heroes were the way to go?”

Seicho needed a moment to think about that as they neared his street. “Well, it didn’t really happen overnight. The way I remember my grandfather telling it, Japan was locked in a feudal state the first few years Quirks were around. A lot of people just went crazy with that power and even more crime syndicates wanted to use that time as an advantage. There were a lot of top criminals who took the spotlight during that time. Apocalypse, Free Fire. There was a rumor of a guy who could steal Quirks and give them to someone else.” 

“It sounds like chaos.” Fenton said.

“It was. In fact, it was almost the end of society as a whole.” He smiled. “That’s when we needed heroes the most. And people rose to the occasion. Everyone imagined what it would be like to have superpowers. To do the right thing when they had those powers. They had read it in comics and all that. Most of the time, people said they probably wouldn’t do something like that when push came to shove.” Seicho laughed. “But then, when the world was in peril, people did what they said was impossible and stepped up to the plate. They fought. They battled. And they became heroes. And the idea that you could use your powers to just help people in need really just… expanded and become such a noble idea. Nobody said it HAD to be that way. It happened and all of humanity embraced it.”

The nurse sighed, memories of his grandfather now prominent as he stopped in front of a large apartment complex. “You asked why we went with a hero society. I think the better question, kid, is why not? We were all given a choice when we got our Quirks on how to use them. And I think, naturally, we all wanted to use our powers for good and to save people, like the heroes from comics. I know I can’t speak for everyone, because there ARE bad people out there…” He hoped Fenton didn’t notice the drop of tone in his voice at that. “But when you have the power to help someone in peril, doesn’t it feel natural to just use your power to protect that person? To help them when they need it most?” 

Fenton pursed his lips for a moment and nodded. “Yeah, I get that feeling. More than you can imagine.” He looked down and Seicho saw a flash of anger in his eyes. “But I also get the consequences that come with thinking like that.” 

Seicho frowned at the sudden swap of anger that Fenton had displayed. Not out of frustration, but more out of worried curiosity. He had seen enough patients to know when someone was holding something back. But before he could ask Fenton exactly what was bothering him, the boy quickly lost the glare to his look and instead gave a small smile as he motioned to the apartment.

“So, your ‘humble abode’ is here then?”

Seicho, seeing that Fenton wanted to move forward as opposed to linger, smiled and exaggeratedly motioned to the complex. “Yes! Humble to a peak! Though in this case, humble is more referring to the fact that I don’t have one of the nicer rooms, but a room that has worked for me! And will probably, hopefully work for you!” He walked forward. “Come on! I’ll give you the tour, Ghost Boy!”

…

When Seicho had said ‘humble’, Danny had thought he would be walking into a small apartment complex with barely enough room to accommodate him or his new guardian. For whatever reason, he had this image of sleeping on a raggedy sleeping back next to the couch with the kitchen and the bathroom about equal distance from him and Seicho’s actual room only a few feet further. Not the nicest place, but still nice and commendable for the nurses salary Seicho was on. And he was fine with that. He had slept in far worse places before.

A full sized apartment with two bedrooms, a large bathroom with a bath/shower and liolion kitchen with a double-doored fridge only about twenty feet away from the living room with a sizable flat screen and three couches placed in a U formation was not what Danny was expecting. 

The night lights of the city peppered in from a large window aside the TV that gave a pretty good medium line of sight into the city itself. Being on the third floor of a ten story building didn’t give a WHOLE lot of view to the overarching city itself, but it still gave enough for the fourteen year old boy to be genuinely impressed by the sight.

The apartment was also pretty clean, which was another shock onto itself. Maybe it was from living with a family that had no problem with leaving ectoplasm splattered everywhere across the room at home, but Danny felt like he was stepping onto one of those displays that showed what your house COULD look like after a quick fixer upper.

The carpet had been freshly vacuumed, alongside the wooden polished hardwood floor that seemed to gleam under the glare of the lights that lined the ceiling in an almost perfect line.

The two bedrooms each held a queen sized bed that lay to the side of moderately sized rooms, one of which was occupied by an assortment of books, papers and what looked to be a laptop in the middle of a Super Mario emulator.

Seicho’s room, Danny thought as he turned his gaze at the free, unoccupied room that was most likely to be his. It was still a bit odd, the thought of sleeping in a room that was not his own in a country he wasn’t from in a world he wasn’t native to. But the room on it’s own looked very comfortable. And Danny couldn’t have been more thankful to be staying in these accommodations as opposed to another day in the hospital bed.

“Not exactly the fanciest place you could imagine,” Seicho said, a bit of worry laced in his tone. “But it works very well for me! I hope it works well for you! I don’t know how things were before for you, but I just-”

“Are you kidding?” Danny exclaimed as he moved forward into the living room. “It’s great! It’s better than I expected! I could definitely get used to this!”

A beaming smile spread across Seicho’s expression. “I’m so glad you like it!” He said as he walked fully into the room. He glowed with humor. “I had already cleared the second bedroom for you during my first work break this afternoon. And I would have really hated it if my break time had gone to waste.”

Danny was already making his way inside said bedroom and taking in the full space. “It was not a waste. Trust me.” He sat himself on the bed and just relished in the comfort of the mattress. It felt like forever since he had been laying in anything other than the hospital spring beds. 

“Well, I’m glad you can appreciate the effort I put into it all.” Seicho said with another laugh. He suddenly stiffened as a vibrating sound filled the air. The nurse quickly reached into his back pocket, pulled out his phone and nodded. “Listen, I have some work to take care of real fast on my laptop, but when I’m done, I can help you get settled in and all that. I have the day off tomorrow, so we should be able to tour the Mustafu Shopping Center and grab you all the clothes and stuff you need. And we could probably swing by some landmarks if you want.”

“That sounds like a plan.” Danny replied, anticipation and eagerness building for tomorrow. He really did want to explore the city more. And it sounded like he would get quite the chance the following day.

“Great!” Seicho replied as he typed out what looked to be a reply on his phone before pocketing it. “Help yourself to anything in the fridge! And don’t wreck the room!” With that, Seicho made his way down the hall and closed the door to his room.

A calm quiet settled across Danny’s room, allowing the smallest pangs of regret to begin to pepper his mind. Not in any regard to Seicho or choosing to go with him. Danny was more than thankful for everything the nurse was doing.

No. The regret was for returning to sleep. 

…

The last nap Danny had taken in the hospital, he had been plagued by a hyper-realistic nightmare that had left him in a cold sweat. 

Tonight, it was no different.

He had been back in front of The Nasty Burger, the ruins still flaming and smoking in front of him as he desperately dug to reach his friends and family. He knew they had to be alive somewhere. He just had to dig harder. Dig faster. He wasn’t doing enough. If only he could do more.

All at once, the ground in front of him cracked open. And the ruins of the burger joint had slinked forward, falling into the freshly opened glowing green crevices. Danny had tried to race to stop the fall. To Go Ghost. To do anything. But all he could do was watch as he was restrained by an unknown force, unable to move as the ruins vanished in a cloud of noxious green gas.

He tried to yell, cry out, do anything. But no sound came out as the green gas moved forward, whispering to Danny and asking ‘Why weren’t you fast enough?’, ‘If only you were stronger’, ‘You let them die’. 

The gas had begun to solidify against his mouth and throat, stopping his breathing altogether and giving him a fresh wave of suffocating panic before he finally sprung awake, sopped in sweat and heart beating so fast, it felt like it was about to tear from his chest. 

For the briefest of moments, he thought he was back in his own room, at his house, with his family. Then, reality set back in and Danny realized exactly where he was and how far away he was from everything he knew.

He swung his legs out from under his blankets and found himself sitting on the edge of the mattress, head resting in the palms of his hands. Danny really wasn’t sure if he was crying or sweating anymore, but either way, his whole body felt so numb and frail. He was both hot and cold. And he felt so powerless.

He needed air. And a lot of it. Without missing a beat, Danny quickly jumped from his bed and made his way out of the room and towards the main living room, where he opened the window and just took in the cool air and distant honk of car horns.

Emotionally, he was a mess. And he knew as much. But, at the same time, he knew that he could only do so much about it on his own. Danny could try to forget about it and move on, sure. But that was so much easier said than done. 

He wasn’t the best when it came to psychology. In fact, Danny remembered pretty much bombing that course right out of the gate at Amity High. But even he knew that this would take a lot more time to even begin to get over. And it wasn’t helping that he was stuck here.

His thoughts then briefly went back to the discussion he had had with Seicho in regards to Quirks and what kind people had and how effectively they could use it. 

He didn’t feel proud of it, but he was originally asking all those questions so he could get to one very important one: If Seicho knew anyone that could remove the emotions from him.  
It was a large leap. And probably something very wrong to ask in front of certain people. And Danny could clearly see their side of things. But, at the same time, he just wanted these feelings of sadness and depression GONE. And that was really the only way he could see it happening now that he was trapped in this world.

But, after everything Seicho had said about the thrill he got from seeing Kamui Woods in action, the way they pushed forward through it all… it gave Danny the sense that taking the route he had planned just wouldn't be right. It just felt so wrong to give in to trying to get rid of his emotions when so many others around him apparently controlled and bettered their emotions through battle after battle.

And Danny felt like a coward for thinking getting rid of his emotions was the key.

He wanted to find a different way through this. He wanted to control his emotions. Mentally secure himself so he could take full advantage of his senses and maybe find a way back home or, at the very least, try to make full sense of Clockwork’s intentions and explore this world for more information gathering. 

If he wanted to do any of this, Danny knew he needed his powers, first and foremost. 

With another breath to steady himself from his shaking and a flex of his arms, he tapped into his energy and prepared to unleash it. He KNEW his power was still there. Danny could still feel it at the bottom of his chest, waiting to be activated again. His Ghost Energy. It just needed the right way to be tapped into.

Fifth time was the charm.

“I’M GOING GHOST.” Danny said through gritted teeth as, all at once, he tried to pull his ghost energy forward. He felt it encompass his body like it had before, permeating in a brief circle of white energy around his torso… before it vanished like it had four times before.

All at once, Danny felt exhaustion slam into him like a truck. And he stumbled, breathing hard. “What am I doing wrong?” He wondered aloud. “What haven’t I tried yet?” The ghost boy fell silent for a brief moment as he caught his breath before he stood and sighed. “There’s a way to this. There has to be. I haven’t found it yet, but I will. I just… have to keep trying.”

With that, the Fenton boy made his way down the hall and back towards his room to rest. 

As he laid back down, his thoughts drifted once more. The world around him was still foreign and uncharted territory for him, but Danny didn’t let that bother him. He knew Clockwork had sent him here to become “better” in his mind. And there had to be something to that. 

Maybe there was something in this world that could change him for the better. Maybe it could help him improve. Or maybe Clockwork had been lying. Danny wasn’t sure about anything. But there was one thing he knew: this world was beyond anything he could ever imagine. And his curiosity had only been building throughout the day as he talked to Seicho.

For better or worse, he knew he had to keep exploring this world. And he certainly couldn’t say he didn’t have any excitement at that idea. 

A world of heroes…. Danny liked the sound of that.


	3. Return to Basics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After solidifying a position in this new world, Danny is left wondering what the next step for him will be

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, thank you so much for your support! I’m glad to see the story is so well liked! I’m happy to keep going! Ship is still up in the air, but there are now three possible candidates I have my eye on!

Chapter Two: Return to Basics

Even now, the sight of the massive complex really just sent all manner of shock through Danny Fenton’s mind. He thought the Amity Park Mall was big. But the Kiyashi Shopping Mall rivaled that on all levels.

It was a massive multi-leveled complex that stretched miles in front of him, lined at the massive holdings by hundreds and hundreds of stores and stands that sold all manner of merchandise. Hero costumes, food, TV items. You name it, they had it.

It curved right, tilting the center middle of the gigantic walkway at an angle to seemingly give the already larger than life place a seeming canyon feel.

And the exterior was just as impressive. The outside shell of the main building was a stretching field of various other shops that catered towards the people just walking by. That on its own was the length of a full farmer’s market stretch. Yet it didn’t even scratch the surface.

Palm trees peppered throughout the main walkway as thousands and thousands of people, most of which had various degrees of transformation, streamed past Danny, none the wiser to him or his guardian. 

Danny, as before, was about fifty different shades of awestruck at the sight that fell in front of him. His family had never really had the time or the money to travel before, so anything outside of his own hometown was always likely to give him a bit of a culture shock.

But when that thing was about twenty times the size of Vlad’s Mansion, Danny felt he had the right to be a bit bewildered and just wordless in front of this sight. 

Seicho didn’t share that sentiment.

“,” He started with a chuckle. “This is like your fourth time being here. I understood the reaction when I brought you here the first time, but I really don’t understand it now.”

Danny felt himself instinctually close his jaw as he looked towards the smiling Seicho. “Give me a break. I’m just not used to seeing a structure this big. The biggest multi-layered building we have back home is probably the hospital.” 

“Your hometown is really that small?” Seicho said, looking back towards the shopping center. 

“Oh, you have no idea. I think the entirety of Amity Park could take up about less than half of Mustafu entirely.” Danny said, a smile gleaming across his expression when he briefly remembered how much Sam, Tucker and him joked so much about this very same fact . “Still, it seemed so much bigger when you factor in all the evil ghosts I had to fight. Everything looks bigger when you’re weaving in between buildings.” 

Seicho nodded. “I don’t know about evil ghosts, but we do have our fair share of hero-villain battles. And those always seem to make the city POP… or explode, in some cases.” He quickly waved away the thought. “Regardless, it looks cool all around. Which reminds me, you need new a phone.”

“... Explosions reminded you that I need a phone?”

Seicho raised an eyebrow. “Explosions don’t remind you that you need a phone to get help in those kinds of situations?” 

Danny pursed his lips. “... Point taken.”

“Exactly.” Seicho said before turning back to navigate the mall. “I just spent all that time getting your room together. The last thing I need is something to happen to you to solidify that I almost broke my back carrying that chair up to your room for nothing.” 

He said this all with a humorous exaggerated anger to his voice, which made Danny crack a smile. “You’re Mr. Adaption. You would have been fine.”

Seicho gave no sign of hearing Danny, but based on the short sigh heard after the fact, the halfa was confident that he had heard him.

He had been in this world for just about a month now. And even though it was still taking a little while for Danny to get used to his new surroundings, it was made easier by the fact that Seicho was more than willing to show him around on his off time. It was even better that the nurse himself was a pretty cool guy all around, in Danny’s opinion.

He reminded Danny a lot of Jazz in regard to the constant focus on his own studies and work around the house, alongside the constant, almost sibling-like attention he put on Danny. He always ensured Danny was equipped with everything he needed and made sure the Ghost boy knew the surrounding area around the apartment and kept tidy around this world’s rules.

Where he differed from Jazz was the way Seicho went about things. As opposed to Danny’s sibling, the nurse didn’t pressure Danny for what he had to do in the moment. Seicho let him take his time and deal with things at his own pace. He still watched Danny of course, which Danny chalked up to the fact that he was still pretty much an unknown to everyone. But he allowed the halfa to experience things at his own pace. 

He also didn’t ask too many questions in regards to what Danny’s life had been like in the past, which the Ghost boy was thankful for. He really didn’t know if he could talk about his past in detail, the way that he was. And Seicho seemed to understand that. In fact, he encouraged the actions that took Danny away from his own mulling.

Seicho insisted he show Danny around Japan, taking him to all the landmarks and giving him the grand tour of what their nation had to offer. And, hit with all amounts of curiosity, Danny didn’t complain.

He had learned so much about how this world’s heroes had just changed everything for the better. And spent the majority of his time marveling at just what this world consisted of. 

Heroes like All Might kept so many people safe. And safeguarded entire cities without asking much of anything in return. They were paid, but it was small compared to what they did to protect innocent people. And those people returned it in kind, creating some pretty awesome events and advances in the city itself.

There was guilt that was still ever present throughout his exploration, but it didn’t stop Fenton from appreciating just what kind of place he had been put in.

His appreciation remained so when he and Seicho stopped in front of the phone store, which displayed a few pristine display phones armed with so much tech and upgrade, it would have made Tucker blush.

“Um…” Danny began, trying his best not to go slack jawed once more. “These are casual phones?”

“About as casual as it gets.” Seicho said. “Why? Not what you’re used to?”

“... You could definitely say that.” The halfa said as he followed Seicho inside.

Danny was still trying to figure out the yen system in Japan, but he couldn’t quite understand it. But, based on the fact that some of the techy phones were withheld behind a solid pane of glass to the right and that there were phones on display to the left, he could guess the left were the cheapest. Yet the left side was still home to some of the fanciest tech phones Danny had ever seen. 

Small, yet glowing with readouts and schematics on an almost holographic screen. The phones were all on display of the news feed, showing various heroes in the midst of saving people and stopping villains. The quality of the feed was so good, Danny could almost mistake the phones for being lived in by miniature versions of Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods. 

This world didn’t have a lot of differences technology wise from what the Ghost boy knew. But the differences they did have still amazed him. 

“Did you have a preference for phones in mind?” Seicho wondered as he looked around the store. “Because I hate to disappoint you, but the higher priced ones are going to be a no go at the current moment. Hahaha. Seriously, don’t even consider it though. Please.”

Danny was only half paying attention. Instead, he focused his gaze on the older phones on display. Maybe it was just in his genetics, but seeing the capabilities of the phone itself made him think more about how it could be modified to make even greater ghost hunting technology. 

Forget the PDA. With these phones, anything was possible. Danny really didn’t want to be picky, but there was one phone in particular that caught his attention.

It was a slick green phone, proudly displaying HD quality and almost holographic settings that seemed to jump right from the screen. It was light, easy enough to keep in his pocket, and it sported a forward camera lens that Danny swore he’d seen reporters use before. 

“I’m fine with whichever phone you think is right for me.” Danny said with a smile, taking his eyes away from the phone. “Honestly, any of these will do fine.” 

Seicho considered that for a moment, glancing towards the other phones before smiling. “You may just regret that choice. Let me remind you of my seemingly ‘horrible’ taste in style.”

Seicho was referencing a matter that occurred about a week ago, where Danny had simply made a statement about the nurse’s Kamui Woods shower curtain and slippers. Since the hospital worked so close with the pro hero, it would be awkward if Kamui chanced a visit and saw what was practically a shrine for him in the bathroom. 

“If it was bathroom decoration, I’d be worried.” Danny replied with a chuckle. “As it is now, I do trust you with a phone choice. As long as you don’t choose a Kamui Woods limited edition phone cover, I think we’ll be fine.”

“I make no promises.” Seicho said with a sinister look before his eyes widened. He reached into his pocket. “Here.” He handed Danny a handful of yen. “While I’m finishing up here, why don’t you go buy some bottled water over at the store? We’re almost out anyway and now would be a better time than any.”

“You’re the boss.” Danny said with a finger gun motion towards Seicho before he turned and headed out towards the general store.

As soon as the halfa stepped outside the doors and fell in step with the crowd, he felt himself inhale a very large breath. Crowds these days were a hurdle that Danny didn’t know he had until the trip to Kiyomizu-dera. That day, he felt anxiety prickle throughout his chest as he examined the crowd around him. He had fear he didn’t even know existed, all in regards to the point that he may see anything that would remind him of what he lost.

It had steadily decreased over the past few weeks, which Danny was happy for. The last thing he needed was to seem any weaker in front of Seicho, worrying his guardian further. 

Still, it did kind of scare Danny of how messed up he actually was as a result of what had happened. The terrible guilt he felt…. he understood that, no matter how painful it was to him. But this new anxiety and the possibly of others like it… Danny didn’t want to think about it. 

He found the general store, picked up the cheapest bottled water pack they had (Seicho would no doubt thank him for that) and made his way to the counter.

That’s when it caught his eye. There, on display in a small sell shelf, was a wide assortment of magazines titled Hero Today. On the cover, the number one hero All Might stood proudly, flexing and mid-laugh as he faced the camera. At his side, a small mouse like person and a man who looked to just about drop dead from exhaustion. 

They all stood in front of towering doors adorned with a proud gold logo that seemed to be a U pushing into an A. 

The picture on its own wouldn’t have been enough to catch Danny’s attention. All Might was the most popular hero of this world. But his picture was put on every corner it could be put on, so it was nothing new to the Ghost boy.

But, what did catch his attention was the two titles, one in English, the other in Japanese, that were plastered proud and red across the base of the cover.

“EXCLUSIVE ALL MIGHT INTERVIEW ABOUT UPCOMING TEACHER POSITION IN MUSTAFU!” 

Danny’s eyes widened. The number one hero was going to teach in Mustafu? Teach what? Future heroes? They were going to learn from him? To become better heroes? A conference, maybe?

His interest was officially peaked. His heart pulled from within his chest. Maybe… he could learn what they saw in this. Why they kept doing what they were doing. 

Maybe he could find a way to move on from loss, like they had.

He looked towards the bear-like cashier. “I’ll take the water and one of those magazines, please.” 

He carefully navigated his way through the crowd once more, this time keeping his attention forward on the magazine in his hands.

The interview itself had both English and Japanese sides, just like the cover. It confused Danny a bit until he realized that the interview was actually done in the United States and was transferred and translated here, which didn’t surprise Danny much after he found out. All Might was, after all, a bridge between the USA and Japan, as he was a hero who dealt in both countries. It would make sense an interview with him would probably go down the same route.

But, unfortunately, that’s where Danny’s excitement kind of peaked. As he read on, the interview questions made it clear that All Might wasn’t hosting a large crowd to speak. Rather, he was focusing on one high school in particular: UA High. Apparently one of the most prestigious hero schools in Japan. And definitely not open for anyone to attend. To be their with All Might, you’d have to...

Hero school… Another pulse boomed within his chest. Danny felt himself take a shaky breath.

No. There was no way he could find a way to attend them. He didn’t deserve it. He didn’t deserve the title. He didn’t deserve any of it.

The halfa furled up the magazine and placed it in his back pocket. And, as he made his way forward to the cell phone store’s doors, a voice… no, a group of voices made him stop.

“Dude, I’m telling you, All Might’s battle with Toxic Chainsaw was probably the coolest fight I have ever seen!”

“No way! That fight between Endeavor and Recall leveled an entire building and gave a blast of heat that melted tires across the road! If we’re going off of just badass ways to use your Quirk, that one takes the cake!”

Danny’s eyes shifted up, where he saw three people about his age, two guys and one girl, taking over an open magazine with pictures of hero fights across it.

They all wore school uniforms that were blue and white respectively. And they just seemed engrossed in the topic of hero battles. All of them looked normal except for the boy in the center chair, who sported tentacle like arms that seemed to blend into his flesh.

The group was laughing and joking with each other, hollering over one another and trying their best to make their case for their respective points. 

They looked like they were good friends, comfortable enough to loudly argue with each other and laugh out loud in spite of themselves. They were a trio, through and through. And they were exactly what Danny had been like with his friends, once upon a time.

The Ghost boy felt his hands clench for a degree as, just for a moment, his despair gave way to wistfulness. 

“?”

The voice of Seicho snapped him up and out of it. And he turned to see his guardian approach, bag in hand and concern about his expression.

“Are you alright?” 

“Y-yeah!” Danny stammered out, quickly turning forward to face Seicho. “Yeah! Sorry. It’s… just been a day, you know? Some stuff on my mind and all.” He exhaled slightly before opting to change the subject. “How did the phone hunt go? You got me a Kamui Woods limited edition, didn’t you?” 

For a second, Seicho said nothing and his concern didn’t waver. But he then smiled and looked exaggeratedly indignant. “After what you said about my shower curtains? I wouldn’t dream of purchasing you something so close to my heart.” He reached into the buy bag and pulled out a small green phone. “No, I bought something even dumber than that: the one that will label me an enabler.” 

Danny was confused for a brief moment before his guardian tossed him a medium green phone. The instant the halfa caught it, he recognized it for what it was: the phone that he had been gazing at.

“... Seicho. You didn’t….”

“Have to?” Seicho asked with a grin. “Yeah, a cheaper phone would have been safer on my pocket. But that wasn’t the one you wanted, now was it?” He beamed. “Someone once told me that being a hero is striving for what you want and never wavering. And it works just as well in civilian life, Fenton. Keep that in mind and enjoy what you have. Besides…” He shrugged. “I figure I do you this favor now and you’ll pay it back ten-fold down the line. It’s a give-give kind of thing.”

Danny, still elated about his new phone, looked to him with a humorous and questioning look. “I mean, I’ll pay you back, of course. But I really don’t know about ten-fold. Chances are, I’m probably not going to be some big deal with a lot of money to throw around.”

The nurse smiled towards him. “And what makes you so sure?”

The Ghost boy sighed. “Trust me, after everything’s that happened, that’s probably not the way my future’s going to be.” 

At that, the black haired boy began to walk, making his way forward in the shopping complex and showing that he would rather not discuss the matter any further.

But Seicho soon fell in line beside him and, keeping his eyes forward, his tone dipped to confidence. “I think you give yourself too little credit on what your future could be.”

Danny felt his thumbs, in the midst of configuring the holographic phone to his settings, waver for a moment at Seicho’s words. His eyes stung and he felt his pace briefly stumble. 

He really didn’t know why Seicho had so much confidence in him, of all people. Danny was the same person who came to the hospital broken and near meltdown. And he had yet to give Seicho anything in return for all the kindness he had shown him despite everything. He had no access to his powers and didn’t provide anything except to be another mouth to feed.

Yet Seicho seemed sure that he wanted to break past what he was and become something here. And, as much as Danny disagreed, he still couldn’t help but feel a sense of thankfulness nestle in the deepest confines of his heart. After everything he had failed at, having one person believe in him to this extent… was something he sorely needed. 

Still, a small part of him found himself on the defensive. Seicho still didn’t know him that well. And the nurse, while active on his days off, didn’t seem to keep an eye on Danny well enough to gage such a high opinion of him. 

The Ghost boy just chalked it up to the nurse not knowing fully about what he was like full-time. If he had known that, he wouldn’t have such a high opinion of him.

But unknown to Danny, Seicho had an eye on him more times than he could know. It was apparent by the nurse’s gaze as he looked back to the group of students Danny had regarded earlier, thoughts heavy within his eyes.   
…

“Enroll him in middle-school?” Tsukauchi looked towards Seicho, placing the papers he had been examining before face-down on his desk. 

“Yes,” Seicho confirmed with a bow. “I think it would be wisest to allow Fenton to begin an education here in Japan.”

Externally, the nurse was playing it as cool as a cucumber. But in his mind, doubt and nervousness reigned supreme. He wasn’t used to being within the police station, much less in a detective’s office. And the amount of decorations in Tsukauchi’s office alongside the presence of the man himself just gave Seicho an absurd amount of cottonmouth.

He had never been in trouble with the law before, but it was still nerve racking to be present in a place like this.

But he had something that needed to be done. And he wasn’t about to walk away from that because he was nervous. Especially when it was for the sake of someone else.

Tsukauchi placed his hands together in thought. “What brought this on? Has Fenton expressed an interest to return to school?”

Seicho shook his head. “No. No, he hasn’t. He seems more quiet in that regard than anything else.”

“I see,” Tsukauchi said with a nod. There was no judgement in his voice or really any kind of tone of unkindness towards Seicho. It was a genuine and kind curiosity in his tone. “So you're basing this off of something you observed.”

Seicho looked at him. “Not just something, Officer Tsukauchi. Or not one incident. More like a lot of something’s that lead to this particular decision on my part.”

The officer remained silent, seemingly prompting Seicho to continue. And the nurse was unsure if that made him more or less nervous.

“You see, Fenton had been kind of reserved when I first took him in as a guardian a month ago. And he did open up to me slightly in regards to how he feels in regards to himself and what he’s been dealing with.” Seicho paused. “But I feel there’s only so much dealing with me Fenton can take. I’ve noticed he seems to get sadder when we pass by groups of people or classmates around his age. And for the rest of the day, he just gets all the more reserved. We get along fine, but in cases like his, I feel he really needs misses others to interact with and kind of open up to, even if he won’t outright admit it. People that he knows differ from me and you. People he can just talk to.” 

“I see where you’re going with this,” Tsukauchi said with a glance back down at his desk. “And are you certain this is wise to do? He’s only been here a month, like you have just said. And we’ve made little progress on the investigation of his origins.” His eyes locked on the nurse. “There are a lot of unknowns here, Seicho-san.”

“I realize that,” Seicho said with a sigh. “But my thoughts are that we don't know exactly how long this investigation will take. And if we leave things as they are, there won’t be any room for Fenton to improve from a psychological standpoint, especially if he’s under lock-and-key at my house.” There was a beat of silence. And that was more than enough to flare the nurse’s paranoia at his own words. “I mean, I don’t mean to say you’re doing a bad job investigating! I’m sure you’re trying your best! It’s just, time frame wise, I mean… this may be better!”

Seicho sweat-dropped. This went by so much smoother in his head. 

Thankfully, Tsukauchi waved away the awkward statement. “I know you meant no offense, Seicho-san.” He replied kindly, then regarded the papers bunched in front of him. “We’ve been exhausting our leads over the past six weeks, trying to gain more insight on anything that Fenton has informed us of in regards to his past. But so far…” He shrugged. “Everything has been inconclusive. ‘Amity Park’ does not exist as far as our records can tell. And surveillance cameras didn’t pick up anything. It’s literally like Fenton popped into existence.” He put his hand to his chin. “The best we can imagine is that a teleport Quirk may be involved, but from who and why, we have no leads.” 

Seicho took that in. “If the investigation is going to go on longer, it’s all the more reason Fenton should get a chance to breathe and actually be a kid his age, instead of a person of interest.”

Tsukauchi nodded. “Agreed,” He said, surprising the nurse further. Seicho was really not used to being agreed with so much. Not in his line of work. “You’ve made a fair point. And I’m not going to deny that keeping Fenton under a microscope probably won’t be any kind of assistance. That being said…” He reached into one of the desk shelves and pulled out a medium sized tan file.

“How is the boy’s Quirk management?” Tsukauchi asked. “Last we left off, he was struggling to even activate it. Now…”

Seicho pursed his lips. “Still no result. He’s been trying almost every night since he first arrived. I hear him put his all into it. But…” The nurse shook his head. “Nothing.” 

He felt bad giving his assessment. More than anything, he wanted to tell Tsukauchi that he had seen a spark of energy or something, just to give Fenton a bit of a shot when it came to the amount of surveillance remaining on him. 

But lying would only make the situation worse. And Seicho knew that Tsukauchi would damn well find the truth one way or another.

Either way, it was a bit of a hit when Tsukauchi delivered what Seicho had expected. 

“That’s a bit of a risk, Seicho-san,” The detective said solemnly. “If Fenton has no control of his Quirk and it activates in the middle of a classroom unabated, we could be looking at injury or death. His Quirk may be a lowered and controlled ghost Quirk. It may not be.” He looked up at the nurse. “Can you give me any guarantees that Fenton’s enrollment won’t cause injury?” 

Seicho was silent for a moment. Tsukauchi brought up a fair point. They knew next to nothing about Fenton’s power or origins. And there was always a risk of danger around him, even now. People with unknown Quirk’s were usually cautiously looked at and evaluated for good reason.

If a powerful Quirk exploded out of control and without warning, a lot of people could be hurt.

But, even with that in mind, there was still a driving point within the nurse’s mind. Something that he couldn’t easily ignore and cast away.

“I know it won’t happen.” Seicho said with determination. “Fenton has been working every free moment to gain access to his Quirk. And there’s no fear when he does so. He trusts his skill and outlook enough on his abilities to try and gain them again without hesitation. And I know that he can control it. He told me as much many times when discussing his Quirk. And I trust Fenton’s judgement. He’s given us no reason not to trust him. And I trust that he knows his Quirk and he will not be a danger.” 

His words were spoken from his own experiences in the matter. Fenton has always told him that he had had control of his power before. And the way he had described the workings and setbacks of his abilities made him confident that the Ghost boy knew his own power. 

They had only known each other a month, but he trusted the kid. And he knew that Fenton would only benefit from a return to what he once knew. Seicho only hoped he had convinced Tsukauchi as much.

There was another beat of silence between the two men as Tsukauchi seemed to ponder at Seicho’s words. Then, he slipped a small piece of paper from the top of his desk to in front of him. Without missing a beat, he ran his pen across the bottom of the page and passed it forward to Seicho. 

“Take this down to Database,” Tsukauchi said with a smile. “They should be able to get you all sorted there.

Seicho blinked one astonishment before taking the slip from the detective and reading it over himself. 

Stated proudly in bold letters across the top of the page, almost screaming it to the heavens, were the words Education Permission. 

“Tsukauchi…” Seicho said through his own growing smile. 

“You didn’t have to convince me much,” The detective replied with a smile of his very own. “The questions on my part were really just standard procedure. Fenton does seem very capable. And I do trust your word in these matters very much. If you believe beginning an education is right for him, I’m not inclined to disagree.”

No words came to Seicho’s mind. Then, all at once, the ones he really needed came. “Thank you, Tsukauchi!” Seicho bowed once more. “You won’t regret this!”

“I already very much don’t.” He laughed. “But I am glad that Fenton has instilled such confidence in your opinion. You must have a lot of trust in the kid.”

“More than he does for himself,” Seicho said sadly, but perked up. “I’m hoping with a return to basics stuff, he may be able to just start to feel normal again, you know?”

The detective nodded. “I’m sure he will.” With that, he stood and circled around his desk to the front door, which he opened for himself and Seicho. “Now, the true task is convincing a fourteen-year old boy to return to school.” 

Seicho felt his expression stoop at that. He had thought of that well beforehand. While Fenton had shown a visible interest in joining people his age in group ups and the like, Seicho wasn’t sure the kid would be entirely onboard with the concept of returning to school.

Heck, at fourteen, HE would have probably kept away from any school premises with a 10 mile pole. 

But Fenton wasn’t him. And he knew that. While he was still learning about the boy as a whole, he knew he would at least consider the concept.

At least, Seicho had to hope his thoughts lined up with what he had guessed. All he wanted was the best for Fenton. Seicho was on his own when he was fourteen. And he didn’t want the Ghost boy to go through what he had to.

With a sigh, he knew he would just have to wait till later in the day to find out what exactly the kid’s thoughts would be. 

…

Danny didn’t know what to think. It’s not that he shut down. It was just… all too much at once. A wave of thought pushing against his already crowded mind.

He looked at the small slip of paper in his hand once more. “... Go to school? Here in Japan?” He repeated, more to himself than anyone else. 

Seicho nodded from his side of the couch. “It’s only if you’re sure you want to go, Fenton. I just thought that, after all the questioning and house arrest of a sort, you may like a change of pace.”

Danny blanched for a moment. This was really not what he was expecting Seicho to talk about when the nurse had told him he needed to discuss something with him over dinner. And, for a moment, it seemed like all Seicho really wanted to talk about was another update about how the investigation into Danny was coming along (which wasn’t very far at all, seeing as how they had nothing to go on). 

Sure, in the back of his mind, he knew being stuck here for a while would mean eventually having to take a crack at the Japanese educational system. But it nevertheless surprised him. 

Alongside the mental turmoil, the mention of entering what could very well be the beginnings of a normal life once more added another weight to his heart. 

On one side, a feeling of what the halfa could only describe as anticipation began to bubble at the top of his mind. As much as he wanted to distance himself from events of the past, he always found himself missing what made up that past in its entirety: being with friends. People who understood him. People he could freely talk to and, most importantly, people who were alongside him through it all. He really did want to return to be around other kids struggling to find their place in the world, like he was (with one very drastic deviation in his case). 

But, on the other side…

After everything you’ve failed to do, do you really think you can receive such a gift as a normal life?

Danny felt his whole body tense. Then, he turned to Seicho, exhaling a shaky breath. He put on a smile, however weak it was.

“Thank you for the offer, Seicho. Really. But…” You’re not a hero. “You’ve already done so much for me. Offered your home and all. I wouldn’t want to be any further trouble for you. Especially for something… that may not pan out.”

“What makes you so certain of that?” Seicho asked. “That it may not pan out? If anything, I feel like you’d really enjoy and thrive in our school system.”

“Seicho… I’m basically Quirkless at the moment,” The ghost boy replied with a sad smile. “And if my middle-school experience had taught me anything, people can’t wait to oust the different person. I think other people will make it difficult to pan out.” 

If Danny was being honest, even with the fact that he was using this as more of an excuse to avoid what he didn’t deserve in the first place, it was kind of true.

He had seen enough of this world to know that people without Quirks were seen as almost outcasts, put into police and detective work in order to allow the heroes with Quirks to take shine.

While Danny didn’t like it, it was the way the world was. And since he didn’t know how long it would be till he gained his powers back (if they came back at all, which was a thought the boy didn’t like to entertain), he knew that he would be walking into that school without a Quirk. And with that fact, he didn’t have any high hopes for his entrance or odds at making lasting friends in this place. Even if he did…

Do you really want to lose more?

While Danny had thought he brought up a legitimate point, to his surprise, the nurse shook his head. 

“I don’t think that will be the case with you.” He replied with sympathy. “Fenton, you know you’re not Quirkless. You’ve gone through your life regulating your power and living without it on some occasions. And that already makes you different from everyone without a Quirk. Most stay drawn away to avoid attention, but you stand tall with everybody else. Your stories had confirmed that much for me.” He smiled. “Everybody stands tall in schools these days. For a world of heroes, you’ll fit right in.” 

At that, emotion boiled inside his heart. Seicho hasn’t meant it. He knew as much. Still, it brought forth a gale of guilt that Danny wasn’t prepared for. 

How can you ever be a hero?

“Thank you for that, Seicho. Really. But I can’t.” Danny said softly. “I can’t fit in with them. I’m no hero.”

“What are you talking about?” Seicho asked. “Fenton, if half of what you told me is true…”

“It’s not that easy anymore.” He wavered. Any other discussion to avoid the real topic would just sidetrack them. Danny knew he had to come out with the truth. “Seicho, I really don’t have the same drive people my age have in this world, okay? All this aspiring hero stuff… I don’t want any part of it anymore.” His heart pulsed, but he drove forward in his statement. “I lost everything to that lifestyle. And to be around others my age… is something that I want, but I’m scared to do. I’m not who I was. I have no drive remaining. At this point, I feel like it would be better for me to kind of keep inside. Maybe work on engineering or something. I love your hero society. I love what’s happening around Mustafu itself. I really do. But…” Danny looked down, his heart swirling with indecision and guilt. “I don’t think I’m made for this.”

A silence settled around the length of the room for a stretch of time. And Danny feared he may have just alienated himself from the one person who had helped him the most. 

But, before he could even begin to apologize, Seicho spoke first.

“Then why are you trying so hard with your Quirk?”

Danny looked up in surprise. “What?”

Seicho had no pressing urgency in his tone or expression when he asked. The nurse seemed genuinely curious. “Pretty much every night, you get out of bed and practice summoning your Quirk forward. Without breaks. Unwavering.” He raised an eyebrow. “Why?” 

The halfa blinked. “You… know about that?”

“You’re not exactly quiet in the matter,” Seicho admitted. “And I’ve seen you attempt quite a few times already. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to breach your privacy or anything.”

Danny wasn’t offended. He was just taken off guard for a moment. Here he was, thinking that his attempts to regain control of his powers was something he had kept to himself. It’s not that he wanted to keep it a secret. It was more… he had hoped he could regain his abilities on his own. Though the more he attempted, the more he realized that it may not be that easy.

This new world definitely had more tabs on him then he could have realized. 

“N-no, you’re fine, Seicho. I just… didn’t realize that you knew.” 

Seicho smirked. “Never underestimate my tenacity for being a guardian, my friend.” His expression drew back to reserved curiosity. “You didn’t answer my question. If you really do think you’ve drifted away from who you once were, why keep your attention on one of the main things that connects you to who you once were? Why do you keep trying with your Quirk if you feel that way?”

Danny pursed his lips. For the first time since their conversation began, the Ghost boy pulled a blank in regards to what to say next. Seicho brought up a good point. 

“It… feels safer to have it then not to.” Danny said, looking at his palm. “It just feels like I need it.”

“But why, if you want to distance yourself away ?”

Danny was silent. And for good reason. Everything Seicho was asking had legitimate reasons behind it. He felt like he had drifted away from any semblance of who he was. He thought the old Danny Fenton had died at the same time as his family. And he had to distance himself from everything that he once was.

That would be easier to do if he just stepped away from regaining his powers. Heck, he probably could just start down the path of engineering and desk work if he just stopped the power testing now and fully embraced the chance at a powerless life in front of him.

His life would still be far from the regular world that he knew. And things would be drastically different in terms of how this society worked compared to his worlds. He could become someone new.

And he thought that’s what he wanted.

But, at the same time, he had never given up in pursuit of his power. There was something within him that wouldn’t give up the idea of obtaining his abilities once again. Even after the first day, racked with guilt and pain and confusion, he still took the night to try and regain control once again. 

And considering how far he had gone to try to get his powers back…

“I don’t know. Like I said, it just feels like I need it for something I guess.” Danny admitted, though he was still stooped in thought. “And… I feel more comfortable when I have it as an option then when I don’t.” 

Seicho smiled. “That’s because you haven’t changed, Fenton.” Danny looked at him incredulously, but that seemed to be a motivation for Seicho to continue. “Look, as much as you want to say you’ve changed, that you can’t go back to what you once were, I don’t think you believe that yourself. When you talk with me, Tsukauchi, Kamui Woods, I can see you prominently for who you were before we found you. The way you joke and jab just seems like you’ve picked it up from some pretty amazing people and kept with it. And this drive to solidify your Quirk… I think it’s from you not wanting to relent what you’ve been, what you still are.”

At his soft spoken tone and honest eyes, Danny felt instinctively tense and looked away. His self-hating thoughts began to lessen. “Seicho… meeting new people like this… you really don’t know who I was before.”

Seicho stood and placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Fenton, I’ve only known you for a month, it’s true. But…” The nurse’s eyes shined. “I know you are one of the most stubborn people I know. From shower curtains to which TV shows you want to watch, you are never one to give up easily. And I doubt that you’re one to give up on yourself that easily.

“From what I’ve seen, there’s no reason they won’t like you. What you are is a sociable, friendly person who confidently keeps himself and the conversation going. I’m not asking you to become a hero, Fenton. I’m asking to give yourself a chance. A chance to confirmthat your the same person you always were.” Seicho looked to the boy with humor and kindness. “And I’m sure there are a lot more taking topics to be explored with other students your age. You certainly don’t want to miss out on that.”

All at once, Danny Fenton, who when he first arrived, was sure that who he once was had died in the streets at the same time as his family, felt his doubtful thoughts pushed away. For the first time, he felt himself relax. And, for the first time, he felt every anxiety when it came to pushing himself to meet anyone else dissolve. For the past month, he had convinced himself… No, lied to himself about how far away he was from anyone else. How he could never befriend anyone in the light of what’s happened to him. 

Now, under the words of Seicho, he felt his own self stir deep within his stomach, a part of himself he thought was long gone. To his own surprise, he felt the overwhelming feeling of wistfulness he had had before take precedence above all else. 

All it takes is just one person to believe in you…

“You know,” Danny lightly laughed, trying to keep the imminent crack from reaching his dry throat. “For someone who said to do it ‘if you’re sure you want to go’, you sure are persistent in this.”

“That’s because I knew you weren’t sure before,” The nurse replied confidently. “You hesitated and second-guessed yourself when you said no. Now, when you’re saying yes, no second guessing to be found, right?”

Danny took that in for a moment before nodding in confirmation. “None at all.” He managed a smile. “Alright. You win. Let’s sign me up for school then.”

Those were words Danny never imagined he would be saying happily within his lifetime.

Seicho nodded back before crossing his arms, adopting his mocking glare expression once more. “And, even if you were having second doubts, I would have pulled the most prominent card in my deck to convince you to attend.”

The halfa raised an eyebrow as he had begun to pick up his empty dinner plate. “And what card would that be?” 

“You owe me for the phone.”

That halted Danny entirely. “Really? THAT’S the favor you would choose to pull?”

“It isn’t ideal, I’ll admit,” Seicho said with a shrug. “But then again, if it was to get you to leave my house for long periods of time instead of eating my food and hogging the TV, it would be worth it in the end, I feel.” 

The Ghost boy narrowed his eyes. “Just for that, I hope you enjoyed your daifuku while you had the chance. Because they just became my next target.”

As Danny turned back to the sink and Seicho laughed in good nature behind him, the halfa felt the beginnings of a smile tug as his expression.

He really couldn’t tell if it was from excitement or just general nervousness at the prospect of what a school in this kind of place could be, and if he really would fit in as easy as Seicho said he could. 

His mind still flicked to the ever-present thought of loss, of setting himself up for something similar to what had happened to…

Danny shook his head defiantly. “That won’t happen. Not again.” And he moved forward, anticipation building for what would happen next.

…

“I take it back. I think you’ve managed to kill every ounce of my anticipation in one move.”

“It’s really not that bad! You act like I strapped a table of nails to your back or something!”

“At this point, I might prefer that to what I have on now.”

The Ghost boy was, of course, referring to the black blazer, white shirt and red tie that fit alongside his belted black dress pants as well as his solid black laced shoes, a combination that made him feel like a funeral director. 

It had been about eight days since Seicho convinced him to return to school and give it a shot once again, but it suddenly didn’t feel like enough time for Danny to prepare. Especially with all of this happening. 

It was his MANDATORY school uniform, required for every student set to join the ranks of Mustafu’s Kaizen Middle School. For his continuation of his 8th year of education, the school “boasted” (Danny himself wouldn’t really boast about it, since it’s awful) set schedules and lunches, with very few breaks in between for much talking. “For a better education experience”, the tagline has said.

Frankly, Danny had his own problems with just certain rules about Amity High, but compared to Kaizen, Amity High was a Royale of freedom. And none of it was helped by a MANDATORY UNIFORM.

“It’s something you’re going to have to get used to, Ghost boy,” Seicho said as he prepared his own uniform for his shift. “Practically every school here in Japan requires uniforms of some kind. It promotes a formality and sense of pride among those in the education here.”

“You sure formality in this case doesn’t mean ‘death of any kind of clothing freedom’?” Danny grumbled as he tugged at his sleeve to try and loosen the tightened feel of his uniform. 

“It very well might be,” The nurse replied with a smile. “But it’s still a requirement, so for now, just roll with it.”

Danny sighed, but he didn’t raise anymore fuss about the uniform. He may not have liked it, but he didn’t want to squander the opportunity presented to him over a stupid reason like clothes. With that in mind, the boy decided to switch topics.

“Uniform aside, how the heck is this going to work class wise?” He asked as he sifted through his new backpack at the larger than life textbooks. “I’m kind of… behind half a year, right?”

“Way ahead of you,” Seicho said as he laced his shoes. “Tsukauchi had to pull some favors, but we were able to make a basic timeline leading up education wise to where you would be compared to the Japanese Education System. Give or take a few items, at least in the case of our middle school, you would just need certain Japanese History and Language classes. In summary, you may have more than one thing to play catch up on,” He said in such a way that Danny knew he was trying to lessen the blow of something pretty dang disheartening to hear. “But, you’ve got my own and the teachers help available! As long as you continue to push forward, you should be fine!” 

“Easier said than done,” Danny said dryly, but he chuckled. “Thank you for all of that, Seicho.”

“Well if I didn’t do it, I wouldn’t be doing my job, now would I?” He replied with another large smile. But that quickly turned to fear as he looked to the clock. “Speaking of jobs, it’s probably best we get on the move! Especially if I want to keep my current one!” 

After a quick meal of eggs and furikake (which Danny found very odd tasting the first week he was here, but now couldn’t imagine having breakfast without it), Seicho all but flew out the door, Danny keeping pace beside him. He wasn’t as in a rush as Seicho was, seeing as how he still had quite a bit of time remaining till he had to be in class. But it was still a little bit of a walk, apparently, to the grounds of Kaizen. The nurse had drilled that much into him and how an early start was the better alternative to anything else.

He should know. Seicho had apparently graduated quite prestigiously from the school. He was the self-proclaimed darling child of the school and he ensured Danny knew the ins and outs of the route to his old school. Any friend of his had access to all of the extensive knowledge he had on the grounds, which Danny hoped to be helpful.

Then again, knowing his own luck, he’d probably arrive to see the whole school remodeled and every aspect that Seicho remembered changed. That wouldn’t surprise him in the least.

As the duo reached the end of the stairs stretching out in front of the apartment complex, passing alongside families and workers as they went about their daily lives, Seicho nodded to him.

“You know the route, right?”

Danny smirked. “Like the back of my hand. Are you surprised? The way you planned out things, you would think we were about to go on a Black Ops mission.”

“It never hurts to solidify that knowledge. Over excessive? Yes. But, you do know it now.” 

Danny rolled his eyes. “I knew it well enough before you decided to drop ten pounds of overkill on it.” 

Seicho chuckled. “Hey, in all seriousness, good luck today. I know this is quite a step for you, especially with everything that’s happened. And I’m confident you’ll make the best of it.” 

“Well,” The halfa smiled. “It’s good to hear someone believes in me more than me.” With some practice and judgement that now was a good time, Danny did a small bow forward. “Thank you for your confidence, Seicho. I’ll do my best.” 

Seicho beamed, no doubt proud over the fact that Danny had used the bow in a correct setting before bowing back. “You’re already fitting in quite nicely, Fenton-san. It’ll be the very same for the school. Strive forward, keep your chin high and keep on your best behavior.” He wagged a finger in a mock scolding. “I have quite the reputation to uphold there, you know.” 

“As you’ve said four-hundred times before,” Danny returned the mock scolding, nodded to him one last time, then set out the opposite direction of the hospital, traveling down the path named so often by Seicho to take him to school. 

Many thoughts permeated the Ghost boy’s mind on his solitary walk. Thoughts of doubt, excitement, worry and anticipation. Many ideas popped around about what exactly a school that had been created around this kind of world could look like. 

But, as his dad had said, there was no use imagining when you could see for yourself. And that was exactly what Danny intended to do, for better or worse.  
…

The beginning of Danny’s first class at Kaizen was about as lackluster as his entrance. 

When he first arrived at Class C-A, the room itself held about thirty desks, of which about twenty-two were filled. A wide assortment of various different people stretched across the room, all sporting different kinds of looks and body parts. 

In his time at Mustafu, Danny had thought he had gotten used to the overall look of people when it came to those with Quirks that changed their appearance, but apparently he still had some learning to do.

It was still pretty amazing to him to see so many people with powers just hanging out in a standard classroom like this. It was something he could have never imagined seeing before, yet it was in front of him.

For Danny, it was a comic setting brought to life. And he was more than a bit stunned and excited at such a sight.

For everyone else though, it was just a normal day. Which brought a lot of glances towards him.

“Hello there.” The feather covered man at the front said with a friendly smile. He looked to be about mid-40’s, with brown curled hair and a beak-like nose. He had a lanky frame that was added to by a long brown coat that arced at the back alongside his actual spine. He very much looked like what a brown bird would have looked like if it was mashed together with a human.

He regarded Danny warmly. “I take it you’re our new student? If not that, then a VERY confused student looking for the correct class?”

The Ghost boy snapped back from his awed state. “Yeah! I mean… yes. Sorry.” He bowed. “My name is Danny Fenton. I was pointed here for my first class of the day?”

“And you were not deceived.” The man said as he looked back to the paper he held in his hand. “I do have you in as a new transfer, Fenton.” He nodded. “And I’m very glad to have you. More students in the class means I’m not as disliked as some people would say.” His eyes twinkled in humor before he motioned to a half row of empty sks seats. “My name is Kotsuzui. Mr. Kotsuzui if you’d prefer. Please.”

Danny, wanting to keep as far away from the front of the class as one could get to avoid getting picked (he learned the hard way with Lancer), selected a seat more towards the middle and back towards a couple of other people.

The last thing he needed was to be labeled a loner as well.

“It says here that you’re a transfer to the area as a whole,” The teacher said as he looked over the sheet again. He looked up curiously. “A transfer from where, if you don’t mind my asking.”

For a moment, Danny almost blurted out “Amity Park”, but stopped himself. It still felt so odd to know that his hometown simply didn’t exist in this world. 

“I’m from the US,” The halfa said instead. “Up near Illinois.” 

At that, there was an excited murmur that seemed to rush across the room.

“The United States?”

“Don’t get many of those.”

“What’s he doing in Japan?”

“Do you think he’s trying for the elite schools?”

“I wonder if he’s related to one of the American Pros.”

Even Mr. Kotsuzui’s eyebrows raised slightly. 

“The United States?” He asked in wonder. “Wow. You could have fooled me. You’re Japanese is pretty spot on. No accent traceable.”

“Oh. Thanks” Danny said with a bit of a smile. It was true that Bypass had helped him big when she gave him the ability to speak Japanese almost immediately, but the practice that came with knowing what to say when and getting rid of his slight faltering by the infamier dialect on his tongue was all him. He spent weeks honing the way he spoke so he could better communicate with both Seicho and Tsukauchi in regards to what he meant at the moment.

And it was good to hear that it wasn’t all a waste on his part. 

“If I may ask, why the transfer to Japan?” Kotsuzui asked. “The US has many hero schools on par with Japan’s best. Why the change?” 

Hero schools. Danny felt his heart clench. “It’s… not really about that.” Danny said uneasily. “It’s just… things weren’t working out there, so I came here instead. It’s as simple as that.”

The Ghost boy hoped that would be enough to satisfy the curiosity of the class. And luckily, by the looks of it, it had done just that.

For this part, Kotsuzui seemed to accept it as well. “Sometimes a change of pace and tone is all that is needed to excel, as my father used to say.” The teacher said sympathetically before turning back to the class as a whole. “Well, welcome to the class, Fenton-san. And I hope Japan leaves as good as of an impression as you’re hoping it will.”

So far, Danny thought as he looked around at the superpowered students around him. It really is. At least in one way.

“Now then,” Almost instantly, Kotsuzui switched to an air of professionalism. “Back to our studies. Last time, we talked about the implications of certain arts across periods of Japan. For today, we’ll focus…” 

As he talked, Danny took his notebook out from his bag and began to jot notes in English. With him being a little farther behind then everyone else, he knew that notes were probably the safest way to go in this class, especially if he wanted to keep his mind focused and detailed about what information he was getting from which areas.

Thinking back to what Seicho had said, he would have one or two after-school classes to deal with to play catch up (which drew another mental groan). But Danny was stubborn. And he would do whatever it took to push past what held him back and reach what he wanted.

That was the kind of person he was. 

As all of this was going through his head, Danny suddenly became aware of the fact that the guy beside him was leaning over and looking at his notes.

Before Danny could even muster a “Hey”, the guy let out a small whistle. 

“I will never understand America, man,” The black spikey haired youth said with an impish smile. “Just looking at the way English is written gives me one heck of a headache.”

He didn’t say it in a demeaning or rude way. In fact, both his smile and his tone already told Danny that this guy was someone who took a humorous and laid-back nature to a lot of things. In other words, the class troublemaker. 

Danny smirked. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, it’s not easy for me either. I think my English grade last year at my old school was hovering somewhere over the proud ‘C-minus’ tier.”

“So even you have trouble with it!” The boy exclaimed, snapping his fingers like he had made a revelation. “Even the person born and raised in America has trouble with it.” His smile never left of his face, but it seemed to drop more in exasperation. “Then why even bother teaching it?” He motioned to his own paper. “Japanese is so much easier. A lot less loops to jump through and easier to sketch. They should just teach Japanese worldwide.”

“To be fair,” Danny said with a chuckle. “Right now, Japanese looks a LOT fancier to write out then any kind of English word.” 

“Really?” The boy looked to his page for a moment before laughing. “Well, it could have fooled me. But I guess since I was born with it, it’d make sense I’d say that.” 

The Ghost boy smiled. “I will admit, English does have a lot to learn. But, for how complicated it is for people learning it, it means so much bragging rights when you get it down.”

The boy’s eyes lit up, like Danny had just hit a point that made him excited.

“Heck, just getting anything down from the US or any country besides Japan gives you all the bragging rights around here,” He said with his never-ending smile. “That’s why I’m a bit of a culturist myself.” 

“For the bragging rights?”

“Well, that’s not the only reason,” He gave him the thumbs up. “But it would be nice to have, wouldn’t you say?”

Danny mulled for a moment before shrugging. “I mean, I wouldn’t say no to bragging rights over someone.” And at that moment, a light went off in Danny’s mind. “How about this? Since you want to pick up some English for bragging rights and I’m still struggling with reading Japanese, how about we help each other in that department?”

The student raised an eyebrow. “You mean I help you with your reading and you’ll help with my English.”

Danny nodded and two regarded each other for a moment before the boy cackled. 

And in almost the same moment, he reached out his hand, extending his arms forward and giving Danny a first glance at the prominent rotund bulges that sized his elbows. It would have been weird to Danny, though he had seen much stranger over the past month or so. “Fenton, right?”

The halfa wasted no time and shook it firmly back. “Danny Fenton. And you?”

The black haired student’s smile seemed to get even wider at the prompting, giving Danny the distinct sense that he might have made a friend with one very energetic and forward person.

“Sero.” The boy all but exclaimed. “Sero Hanta.” He closed one eye in a mischievous way, lifting his elbow so Danny could get a proper view of the Quirk based add-ons. “You can just remember me as the future Tape Hero.” 

…

“Cow Lady.”

“Cow Lady? Really? No.”

“Electoplant.”

“No. Cool name though.”

“You’re kidding! Christopher Skyline?”

“No.”

Sero screamed out at that point. “You can’t be serious! All that time in America and you never ONCE saw the top dogs in action? More than that, you don’t even really know them?!”

Danny shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you, Sero-san. I already explained that no one from where I’m from had an eye for the hero stuff, so we never really talked about it.”

It was both the truth and a lie on Danny’s part, but he figured it would be easier for Sero to handle then the full truth as they made their way off of the school grounds and down the evening lit road, marking the end to their school day. 

They had become fast friends over the past couple of weeks, mostly over them sharing a lot of common interests and the fact that Sero approached him far more often then Danny would have imagined. Here he was worried about approaching forward to make friends here.

While Danny had invested himself in learning more about Japanese culture, Sero likewise wanted to know everything American. So they began their long discussions on the different ways their countries differed from each other and eventually evolved into particular likes and dislikes, mainly the point of causing trouble.

Danny wasn’t the WORST troublemaker at school back in his own reality, but he had dipped his toe in the practical joke department more than once using his powers. And Sero enjoyed the hell out of those stories.

Like Danny had suspected, he was a troublemaker through and through, taping his friends at odd times and using the infinite draw of tape to his numerous advantage in a lot of situations.

That wasn’t to say he couldn’t get serious. Danny had seen his test scores and even he was impressed at how they were. But Sero did often like the pull of trouble when he could get it. And Danny could respect wanting to follow that pull. 

But that pull wasn’t present in his friend now. Especially in light of what the halfa was telling him. 

“Yeah, but what city in the world is THAT afraid of heroes?!” Sero asked, uncalmable at this point. “To the point where you haven’t even seen a pro in action? No offense or anything, Fenton-san, but your hometown sounds like a HORRIBLE place.”

He said it all in humor and Danny laughed. “It’s not so bad. Even if we didn’t do hero news, it didn’t mean we didn’t respect the hero trade. My family did their fair share of heroics.” He felt his heart dip slightly, but the Ghost boy powered through. “They weren’t the best, but they tried.” 

“Hey, any kind of person who gets involved with hero work is the best in my books!!” Sero said, back to his usual smile. “My parents also always wanted to get involved with the hero side of things, but they could never figure out a way to properly control their Quirks enough to make it happen.” The tape man flexed his arms. “But I’m hoping to change that! And use my tape to become one of Japan’s top heroes!”

Danny smiled. In a lot of ways, Sero reminded him of himself when he first got his powers. And he was glad to have that kind of presence back. “‘Tapeman comes to the rescue!’. I can really see the headlines plastered across Mustafu.” 

“I can’t tell if you’re joking or not,” Sero replied. “But I’m glad to hear you’ve got such a glimpse of the future.” As the ghost boy laughed, Sero quickly picked up the conversation. “Your parents, by the way. What kind of Quirks did they have?”

Danny felt himself instinctually lock up. He hadn’t talked to Sero about his parents yet and hesitated for a bit on what to say next.

“They… didn’t have Quirks,” Danny replied, opting to keep some sincerity with his friend. “They were a Quirkless couple.”

“Quirkless?” Sero asked in some surprise. “And they still tried to do hero work?”

Danny nodded. “Whenever they could. And they saved people on more than one occasion. Honestly…” The halfa hesitated, the emotional pain burning in the center of his throat. But eventually, the words he held in absolute truth came out: “They were the bravest people I’ve ever known.”

Sero was silent for a moment, giving Danny a bit of worry. Then his classmate smiled. “They sure sound like it, dude! Quirkless and still fighting crime? That’s pretty cool.” 

The Ghost boy nodded, smile ever growing as he took in the fact that, even with the knowledge that they didn’t have powers, someone in this world of heroes considered his parents just that. It was enough to give him an astounding amount of joy. Something he thought he wouldn’t experience again anytime soon.

Those thoughts ended and were replaced with immediate nervousness as Sero posed his next question: “So if both your parents were Quirkless, what’s your deal? You said you had some kind of ghost Quirk, right? How did you get that?”

Danny hesitated. He wasn’t used to picking his words so carefully so often. When Sero first asked him about his Quirk, he gave only a brief explanation of a Ghost ability and moved on. To expand on it more gave Danny a bit of anxiety, especially if his abilities didn’t come back.

Quickly recalling what he had learned when it came to Quirk biology, he found his response. “Well, I get it from my grandpa, mostly. He has a possession Quirk that paired with my grandmothers. It may have skipped over my mom and went straight to me.”

It was an excuse that Danny hoped Sero wouldn’t pry too much into, as he didn’t have much to go on after that. Luckily, his friend seemed distracted by one thing in particular. 

“A possession Quirk?!” Sero fumed, throwing his hands up in exasperation. “Man, your family sounds like they won the lottery when it comes to powerful Quirks.” 

“You’d think so, huh?” Danny replied with a chuckle and some relief.

“If your Quirk is as awesome as you say it is, why haven’t you shown it off yet, Fenton-san?” Sero asked. “I know I’d like to see it in action!”

At this, Danny placed his hand on his neck in embarrassment. “Well, I would, but… it’s not really active at the moment.”

“Active?” Sero asked as they sidestepped an advancing couple and turned the corner towards the residence of Seicho. “What do you mean?”

“Well…” Danny internally sighed. He didn’t want to lie about this subject. It wouldn’t do anything but cause trouble down the line. “To put it bluntly, something bad happened and…” He looked at his hand. “I haven’t been able to access it since.” 

Sero turned his head. “Like you haven’t been able to use it AT ALL since then?” The Ghost boy nodded confirmation. “Huh. That’s strange. I’ve never heard of any pros going through that.” 

While the halfa was thankful that Sero didn’t pry any further into the mentioned bad moment, he couldn’t help but sourly smile. “Thanks, Sero-san. ‘I’ve never heard of any pros going through that’ fills me with so much self-confidence.”

“Hey, don't take it that way! I’m not!” Sero’s grin seemed to widen. “I’m fact, it means that if the pros haven’t dealt with it, it may be an easier fix then you think! We just need to find the right way to do it!” 

“... You suddenly got really into this,” Danny responded. “So I take it you have a plan then?” 

“Yup!” The tape hero gave him a thumbs up. “A plan that’ll help both of us in the long run! Especially if you’ve been out of practice for your Quirk!” 

The Ghost boy raised an eyebrow. Based on that response, he knew where the black haired boy was taking this. 

“You mean… training?”

“Not just any training, Fenton-san!” Sero assured. “But the training regiment designed with UA in mind! They released a self-prep page a few months back for everyone who wanted to try their luck at the Entrance Exams. You know, to help those people train and prepare for whatever’s thrown at them. Including Quirk prep and strengthening.” The tape man smiled. “If you’re having trouble with your Quirk, this regiment is the way to go.”

Danny hesitated once more. His powers were inaccessible right now. And he really worried about what exactly would happen if he pushed himself into trying to force an unlock. That could be potentially city-ending. And he wasn’t going to start over after he had JUST memorized the route to and from school from Seicho’s house.

At the same time, he felt doing nothing was not something he wanted to do. And, more than anything, he wanted to see once and for all if his powers could return at all. New world might mean new rules. Danny just hoped that one of those new rules wasn’t the absence of his abilities. 

“If you think it’ll help, Sero-san, I’m really not going to say no.” 

“Sweet!” Sero exclaimed. “I’ve been needing a training partner! Hopefully, this’ll speed things up enough so I can be at my best when the Entrance Exams hit! Thank you, Fenton-san!”

As Sero enthused beside him, Danny found himself mulling over what had been revealed to him about his friend from another world. 

UA? Danny wondered within his mind. One of the most prestigious hero schools in Japan? 

He had heard about it enough on the news and on the English newspapers he could find to know all about the famous school within their area. And he was a bit surprised that Sero was aiming so high. 

His friend seemed like the type that was more comfortable taking the lighter jobs then aspiring to a top hero position. Yet Sero’s eyes seemed determined when he mentioned the school and his aspirations, as if there was no other place he could see himself being a part of. 

And, though it was a drive that he no longer found in himself, he respected Sero’s decision in that, despite the thoughts prominent within his scarred mind. 

Only pain will follow him.

He’s naive. He didn’t see what you’ve seen. He’ll lose it all, just like you. 

Hero school. Why bother when the path only leads to horror.

Drive him away while you can. Spare Sero the grief. 

Danny shook his head and clenched his fist. “No. I’m not going to take this away from him.” 

Despite his doubts, Sero was the first person in this world to befriend him. And he wasn’t about to tear down what Sero was working for, no matter how he felt. 

The spiky-haired boy wanted to help him. And he wasn’t going to sabotage that. 

… 

“For the record, this doesn't feel like training! More like a one-sided beat down!”

“One-sided? You’re dodging, aren’t you?” 

Because I’ll get slapped by tape otherwise, Danny thought to himself as he quickly launched himself on the balls of his own two feet as a long ball of tape slapped against the cement he once stood. He would have said it aloud, but he also didn’t want to take the risk of biting his toungue off mid-dodge. 

The two friends were now front and center in a Quirk training court just outside the main middle school campus, each bobbing and weaving as Sero slugged line after line of tape towards Danny, who did his best to dodge every oncoming bolt coming his way. They were both decked out in simple exercise shirts and shorts, which were now peppered with sweat and dirt marks. 

This was part of the Sero-proclaimed UA Regiment that they had both been participating in for the past six weeks. This was a break away from the already exhausting sprints and push-ups and a focus on the part of the regiment Sero focused on with Danny: Quirk training.

The tape boy’s hope was that through the training and sparring, it would jumpstart and reactivate the halfa’s unseen Quirk when he felt in danger or peril. It was a good idea. Great, even, for Seicho. The guardian had encouraged the attempts to try and get some control on the elusive Quirk of Danny’s (though the halfa suspected he was just glad that Danny got out of the house more). But it was exhausting in the harshest way in practice. And, so far, it was giving no results. Not a peep from his power. 

Danny had always considered himself a pretty athletic guy. He was always able to keep pace in the mile runs during PE and the rope climb. But, against someone like Sero, who seemed to have focused his life on being able to jump around like a jackrabbit, Danny’s lungs were basically non-existent. 

On the plus side, he had become VERY skilled at dodging. 

The youngest Fenton child dodged yet another slap of tape as his mind raced for a plan, sidestepping the rolling track of white as it raced past his ear. 

Danny cracked a smile. “You’re getting too easy to predict, Sero! You might want to change your tactics up!”

“This coming from the guy who’s stuck to the same sidestep-turn-run dodge strategy he’s been using for the past three days?” Sero called out with a guffawing laugh. “You should speak for yourself!” 

“Hey, if you haven’t found a way to solidly knock me out of it, I would say we’re a long way from getting my Quirk back and getting you into UA.” 

He expected Sero to lash out at that with another retort, like he always had before. Instead, the boy smiled impishly, which didn’t exactly put Danny at ease. 

“You’re right. So how about we CHANGE THAT?!” 

All at once, Sero leaped, grabbed both ends of two torn off tape lines and ripped both of his arms up.

Danny, realizing too late what had happened. He turned just in time to see the stationary tape lines he had thought were uselessly severed after Sero had missed with them, suddenly tightened and tore at the ground, taking small chunks of the cement with them as they both swung towards Danny.

With a yelp, the Ghost boy ducked in time to avoid the small boulders. A small part of him was wondering if his powers would activate to protect him from harm, but that was minor compared to the want to not be slammed in the face by a pair of rocks.

As Danny rolled, the rocks flew over him and swiped each other as the tape crossed, shattering them and raining small pebbles around him.

The school itself had a teacher that could repair and dislodge craters and items with his Quirk, which is why Danny wasn’t worried about the destruction they had caused.

Alternatively, what he was worried about was the tape man, who showed no signs of wavering as, took advantage of Danny’s prone state and launched another line of tape straight towards him.

Before Danny could react, the tape slapped against his hand at the same moment it hit the ground, fixing him in place. 

His hand shot towards the tape to pull it off, but he was stopped by another line that slapped his free hand to the ground. 

“I’d call that game,” Sero said as he huffed-and-puffed his way over. “Especially seeing how I broke your dodge.” 

“Yeah,” Danny agreed as he strained against the tape. “You just had to literally tear pieces of the ground out before you could. No big deal.”

“Hey, a hero uses every trick at his disposal.” Sero said tauntingly. “Are you going to blame me for playing smart?”

“I’d call it playing dirty more than anything else.” Danny grumbled. But there was humor in his eyes and expression as he said so. This wasn’t his first time getting caught in Sero’s tape after all. And he doubted it would be the last. “Feel free to get me out at anytime, by the way.”

Sero snickered, but he removed the tape on both hands and allowed Danny room to sit up. Though Sero let out a couple more chuckles after that, his expression changed into one of thought after a moment.

“Still nothing?” The tape user asked as the Ghost boy stood. 

Danny pursed his lips. He flexed his arms and wrists, attempting to find any pulse of energy hidden within him. After a moment, he stopped. “Nothing. Same as always.” 

“Man,” Sero placed his hands on his hips. “I really figured this would be the time. I worked my butt off with that rock throw technique.” 

“I’m sorry,” Danny said, looking at his bruised arms. “I wish it was that easy. But apparently it’s not.” 

“No kidding,” The spiky haired boy looked across the broken cement ground and to the sweat drenched clothes they both wore. “You down for a break, Fenton-san?”

“I was always down,” The halfa complained. “It was just you who wanted to keep going.”

Sero laughed once more before moving to the bag he had brought with him and pulling out two fizzy sodas. 

He tossed one to Danny (who almost got smacked across the cheek by it, he was so unprepared and tired) before taking a seat beside his friend.

For a few moments, silence reigned as they each enjoyed their individual drinks. 

“Seriously, though,” Sero began. “Even though we haven’t got a grip on your Quirk yet, I do want to say thank you for helping me out in my training. I think I’ve already gotten much more strategic, thanks to your ridiculous dodging.”

Years fighting ghosts will do that to a person, Danny thought. He laughed aloud. “What can I say? I’m just that skilled, I guess. And honestly, Sero-san, helping you out is the least I can do. Especially after you helped me through a lot of Japanese literature.”

In light of all the classes Danny was taking to play catch-up for his education, he was afraid he would be left behind and pretty much left in the dust. And, at first, it was as stressful as he would have imagined.

But, with Sero’s help in the field, he was able to pick up more strides then he was on his own. Of course, he didn’t help much, seeing as how his grades were almost on par with Danny’s old English grade. But what he did offer was enough to give the Ghost boy a push in some aspects of reading. 

“It’s no problem!” Sero replied easily. “You’ve been teaching me enough English to get a lot of attention my way, so I’m more than happy to return the favor.”

Danny raised an eyebrow. All he had really taught Sero so far were certain phrases like “What’s up, guys?” and “Break it down!”, which really wasn’t much. But Sero being Sero, he wore and expressed those phrases like a badge of honor. To his credit, it was giving him quite a bit of attention from his classmates, so Danny couldn’t argue with results. 

“Yeah, I see you’re making good use of that,” The Ghost boy said. “You drop it every free chance you get.”

“Hey, not a lot of opportunity’s to speak English here,” Sero crossed his arms. “I have to take what I can get.”

Danny shook his head in amusement before a friendly silence took hold again. There was no awkwardness present between them or even a struggle for words. It presented itself as two friends just being in the presence of one another. An opportunity Danny hadn’t thought he would have again.

So it was a bit of a mental tug-of-war when an idea for the next topic of conversation entered Danny’s mind. He promised himself before that he wouldn’t touch on it, seeing as how Sero was his friend and he didn’t want to say anything that could destroy that. He really didn’t have anyone else to talk to at this school.

But, at the same time, his subconscious and his guilt wouldn’t quiet. And he knew he had to ask Sero eventually, if just to ease his own curiosity.

“Why UA, Sero-san?”

Sero looked to his friend, confusion in his expression. “What do you mean?”

Danny sighed. No turning back now. “I mean, why are you so determined to go to UA and become a Pro Hero? I mean, your Quirk is like a multi-use Power. You could do whatever you want with it. Construction, cityscape surveying, just reaching high places where other people can’t reach. And the Pro Hero life is really… dangerous in a way.” So much danger. “Why are you so determined to become a pro?” 

The halfa was worried that he would have pushed it too far with such a question. But Sero, for his part, didn’t hesitate or question why Danny was asking. In fact, his smile seemed to get even wider as he crossed both arms over his neck in thought. 

“Well, that’s easy.” He began. “Because if I can become one, I will.” Danny raised an eyebrow and began to question him further, but Sero was already ahead of him. “It’s like you said, Fenton-san. My Quirk has a lot of uses to it. In fact, I won’t deny that I could probably become one of the fastest construction services in Japan if I decide to go down that route. But, since I was lucky enough to be given this kind of Quirk, I figure why not use it to its maximum potential?”

He looked to his now empty can. “One of the things All Might said a long time ago was that your Quirk was what you made it. It always had room to grow and become something great. And if mine had the potential to become any one of those awesome things, then why not go for the top spot, I say? And use my powers to their best use?”

Danny found himself nodding to Sero’s reasoning. He agreed. He agreed because that’s what he used to believe back before everything and everyone was taken away from him. Sero had the same ideals that he had when he was given his ghost powers. 

They had a variety of uses and he could have gone any which way with them. But he chose to use them to help others. To protect his town from sinister forces. To become a hero. 

And look where those ideals got you. Look at what they cost you.

Danny winced. Sero didn’t know the pain that came with such a position. What it may inflict on you in the end. And a part of him knew he had to make sure he knew. 

“I get you,” Danny assured. “Really, I do. But there’s also a give and take to hero work, you know? Sometimes people die. People close to you.” Guilt clouded around his heart, but he continued. “I’m not saying it’s something that people shouldn’t be doing, but…” He sighed. “A lot of people don’t understand what comes with a job like that. And if you lose someone when you have a responsibility to protect them, it can break someone. I’ve seen it before.” He crossed his arms. “Maybe I’m in the minority here, but that’s kind of why…” Failure. “... I don’t think it’ll be as free roaming and fun as somebody might think. I just want to make sure you know that, Sero-san.” 

“I never took it as a free roaming job.”

Danny looked back at his friend in surprise. “What?”

Sero shrugged. “I’ll be the first to admit that being a pro does sound pretty badass. And it’s always good to be popular. But I didn’t decide to try and be a pro because that’s all I wanted. The way All Might fights on TV and the old clips, it’s pretty clear that the hero business is not going to be a walk in the park.” 

Sero smiled at his friend. “I know it’s going to be dangerous. And I will have to protect people. But that’s what it’s all about, right? Putting yourself on the line so others can be okay. Just like All Might. I’ll always try my best when it comes to hero work. And if the worst happens while I’m on the job, I won’t let it break me. My family supports me through thick and thin after all. And they sure as hell wouldn’t let me off the hook if I gave up on what I wanted to be when something bad happens. Especially when the hero title is involved. And that’s what it’s all about for me in the end. I’ve got the heavy support behind me, so I’m going to work towards my wants and goals no matter what. That’s what makes a hero after all, right?”

Danny Fenton said nothing, mostly due to the fact that his mind was still taking in Sero’s words. When he first heard mention of how popular UA attendance was in Japan, he had thought that a majority of the students clamoring there only had a vague idea about what went into hero work. That they thought it would all be glamour, like he did when he first started.

But after talking with Sero, Danny had begun to second-guess. Sero knew full well what hero work was about, yet he still drove forward anyway. He took the support he had and he focused his goal with that drive. 

In more than one way, Sero reminded him more and more of how he was before. 

If one person supports you, you can take on the world. 

Danny’s thoughts lingered on the saying that he had prominently focused in his mind during his discussion with Seicho. At first glance, Danny was afraid this society seemed self-centered in a way. But, if there was as much support present in this society as Danny had seen, maybe there was something to it.

There was a brief pulse within his body, one that didn’t feel like guilt. 

After a beat of silence, the Ghost boy let out a sigh. “Well, I can’t argue with all of that, Sero-san.”

Sero chuckled nervously. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to go off on a speech like that.”

“No, you’re fine.” Danny said with a smile. “In fact, I’m glad to hear your side of things. It kind of makes things a little more clear, in a way.”

“... I can’t tell if that’s a compliment or not, Fenton-san.” 

“No, it’s a compliment,” With that conformation, Danny stood and stretched. “And you better enjoy it while you can. It won’t be happening again after this next round of training.”

“See, those are fighting words if I’ve ever heard them.” Sero said with a mock malicious smile as he stood and stretched. “I take it you’re up to resume then?” 

“More than ever,” Danny said, stepping back up to the training ground center. “I think I got the hang of your strategies now.”

“We’ll see about that,” Sero placed himself on the other side of the training ground, an impish smile more apparent than ever. “Especially after I show you one of my newer moves.”

“Well,” The halfa stretched one last time before bending his knees in a sprint position. “Let’s see it then.”

That’s was all Sero needed to hear. With a sneer, the tape master threw both arms back and forward in one explosive moment, bringing a double cascade of tape flowing forward in what could be described as one whole fist of tape. Definitely thicker than anything Danny had seen before.

The Ghost boy lowered his form and reassured himself for a side sprint, but his mind was still focused on the lingering words of Sero, so apparent in his mending mind.

My family supports me through thick and thin after all. And they sure as hell wouldn’t let me off the hook if I gave up on what I wanted to be when something bad happens.

I’ve got the heavy support behind me, so I’m going to work towards my wants and goals no matter what.

His own thoughts turned to his family and friends, people who supported his hero goal no matter what went on. Jazz, Sam, Tucker. They all wanted him to be one of the best heroes in Amity Park. They would have still wanted that now.

Right? 

A failure 

But should I give up?

All at once, Danny’s strategy changed in the moment. As the tape soared towards him, he felt his feet shift forward and him stand fully from his crouching position. His gaze focused on the oncoming projectile. And his left hand balled.

An unbelievable amount of adrenaline surged forward from his chest. And, right before the tape made impact, beyond his own logic and reasoning, his instincts won out. And he punched forward.

FWAM

The tape slammed and shattered against a source of energy that wasn’t present before, writhing and burning under the assault of a glowing green burn that encompassed the entirety of Danny’s fist.

The length of line burned away as the energy Danny released countered and dispelled any integrity that Sero’s attack once held. And, in the blink of an eye, it was over, the green wavering energy soaring past the tape and out into the horizon.

Danny, encompassed by his muscle memory, suddenly faltered as his sights finally settled on his glowing fist. 

He recognized the energy in an instant. The familiar tingle, the flow of power. All of it was nostalgia on his mind. And he, of all people, could never forget it.

“Ghost energy.” He muttered as the energy flowed across the length of his palm. “My powers…”

Then, just as quickly as it had appeared, it vanished, dissipating across Danny’s fingers and vanishing completely, like it was never there to begin with. 

“Whoa!” Sero called out from the other end of the training area. “What was that?!” 

The halfa took in the feeling of static that lingered on his palm, shock still plastered across his expression. After a beat of silence, he looked to his equally shocked friend.

“That, Sero,” He murmured, looking back at his hand. “Was my Ghost Power.”


	4. Danny Fenton Origins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With his powers suddenly resurfacing, Danny faces what should be done next. And who he can turn to on the crossroads of the biggest decision in his life on this world.

Chapter Three: Danny Fenton: Origin 

How long it had been since the moment his powers flared, Danny couldn’t tell you.

The world seemed to have stopped for him the moment he felt the familiar rush of Ghost energy flaring across the palms of his hands. It was a moment of clarity, of both relief and just shock.

Danny had been in this world for just over two months. The entire time, he had been without his powers. And a part of him had resigned to the fact that his powers may never return.

Now, seeing them return to him like this… it was like Danny had found a friend he had thought he’d never see again. 

For Sero, it was seeing something entirely new for the first time. And he was beyond shock at this point.

“Your Ghost powers?!” The tape hero exclaimed as he made way towards Danny. “Man, I thought you said you could only possess people or something! You never said anything about energy bolts!”

“I said one of my powers was to possess,” Danny said, his voice still a bit shaken as he turned back to face Sero. “But there’s a lot I can do with it. I… Just didn’t think energy bolts would be something that I would be doing anytime soon.”

And Danny was completely honest in that fact. Even assuming he would get his powers back, he had thought that it would be hard to control or even weakened after so much time of not using it. He had expected to not be able to use much of anything right away, much less the energy from his hands.

But here it was, prominent and powerful. And Danny wasn’t sure if he was more excited or nervous about that.

“How?!” Sero asked, still at peak excitement from the return of Danny’s powers. “How do you manage to fire off energy like that with your Quirk?”

Danny looked back to his friend. For whatever reason, there was hesitance within himself. He felt so weary about telling Sero what he could do. He had spent so much time trying to hide who he was back on his world, he never imagined he’d be in a situation where someone was PLEADING with him to explain his powers. It felt so unreal to the Ghost boy. 

But there was no reason not to tell him what he was capable of. At least, what he hoped he was still capable of. Not after everything Sero had done to both help and befriend him. Danny knew he owed the tape boy that much. 

“Well, the energy I have isn’t just used for possession,” Danny admitted. “I can use and move it around my body and kind of use it wherever and whenever I can. It’s what I used to possess, turn invisible and shoot energy out of my hands.”

Danny had expected Sero to ask more questions or wonder how it was even possible. The reaction he got was completely different from that.

“What?!” Sero exclaimed again, looking over Danny as if seeing his friend for the first time. “Forget amazing, your Quirk is beyond epic, Fenton-san!” 

Danny was surprised, to say the least. Sam and Tucker had called his powers cool as well, but not the moment he got them. If anything, they were more afraid that he had just gotten hurt. Which was fair, seeing as how he was just spit out of a malfunctioning ghost portal. 

But ever since that fateful day, Danny had had many interactions regarding his powers. And almost always upon someone first seeing them or hearing about them, they would want to know more or just avoid the talk of powers altogether. And the media at Amity Park pretty much always hated him just because of his powers. 

But here, in this world so prominent with different kinds of powers and fantastic abilities, there was a different take on Danny altogether.

And while he had spoken to people here about his power before, he had expected a different response when they actually saw it.

It was something Danny wasn’t used to. And the Ghost boy found the twinges of a smirk pulling at his lips at Sero’s words.

“Yeah,” Danny agreed. “Yeah, I guess they kind of are.” 

“Can you do it again?”

“Oh! Um…” Danny pursed his lips. “I really don’t know. I was surprised I managed to do it once.”

“Well, give it a try!” Sero said encouragingly. “It would probably be good to see if this was just a one time thing or not. Plus, we have to see if the training worked after all!”

Danny nodded. Sero definitely wasn’t wrong in that department. 

As Danny flexed his arms out for a second time and took a deep breath, a spark of worried doubt scratched his mind. He really hoped that his power wouldn’t disappear on him. Not after this flick of hope that he experienced.

It was a nostalgic feeling that Danny had long forgotten. And he really didn’t want to lose it again.

Luckily, he wouldn’t have to. 

As his hands balled into fists and he felt his power building up in the center of his chest, his hands flickered with a greenish light and very quickly became shrouded in a mist like green energy that shot across the nerves of his palms. 

A rush of adrenaline and muscle memory came soaring back into the halfa’s mind. But more than all of that, there was an unkempt and unwavering feeling of joy. 

His powers were back. And he felt a little like himself again.

“You’ve got them back!” Sero yelled in excitement. “I KNEW that training was strong as hell!” He approached Danny in excitement. “Can you control it, Fenton-san?”

Danny hesitated for a moment, then flexed his hand. The energy buildup in his fist increased a level in response, humming in seeming anticipation.

His fear of self-explosion put aside now, he beamed.

“I can control it!” He tried not to sound as excited as he was. “Exactly like I could before…”

That was another hurdle Danny found himself happy he passed without realizing it. It would have been pretty embarrassing to talk his power up like this and then have it’s control swap on him like inverted controls.

“Well, heck!” Sero said with a pump of his fist. “Let’s test it out then!” 

In a flash, the tape hero conjured about five small balls of tape and flung them forward, slapping them against the forward fence and attaching them in a wave like pattern.

“Target practice?” Danny asked as he surveyed the fence.

“Target practice!” Sero confirmed with a thumbs up. “I don’t think it would hurt to test your aim after so long on the bench, you know?”

Danny didn’t disagree with that. “Alright! Let’s give it a shot!” 

He himself was curious how his aim was after over two months of non-use.

With care, he stretched his palm out towards the center tape ball and concentrated, focusing both his aim and his intent towards the point itself.

It had been so long since he’d done something like it, he felt his muscles cramp slightly, reminding him just how long it had been since he’d gone through this. 

With a deep sigh, he steadied his thoughts and took aim with the tip of his finger, sending as much energy as he could to the tip of his finger.

In response, the energy shot forward and built up into a spinning green ball of concussive force.

ZWOOM

Danny’s hand shot back slightly as the ball soared forward and towards the ball. It impacted just above the target and on the fence, burning a green hole within the thick brush of the metal wiring. 

“That would be a miss.” Sero commented.

“I can see that,” Danny replied sourly. “Give me a second. It’s been a while.”

As the ghost boy corrected himself and tried to remember his overall mindset when he used his powers before (it was amazing what a person forgot after two months of not doing something), Sero looked to Fenton’s form with curiosity. 

“Try loosening your stance?” Sero scratched the back of his head. “I mean, it may help improve the aim better.”

The halfa scrunched his expression. “How?” The Ghost boy asked genuinely, looking down to his own feet. “I’ve always fired the same regardless of where I stood or flew.”

“It really helps you direct a lot more,” Sero raised his arms to show his tape dispensers. “A loose stance on my end let’s the direction of the tape flow without interference or any other crap. Basically, it just makes life a little easier.”

Danny took that in. When he had fought in his own world, he had always kept himself forward and pursuing, opting to keep enemies pushed back in order to protect his city. 

Remembering it, he did miss quite a few shots fighting that way, but the main deal was keeping the pressure on. 

Could something as simple as a lighter stance really chance that.

Opting to test that theory, Danny loosened the weight on his legs and spread them a little farther apart, exhaling a breath as he shook his hands and loosened them to the best of his ability.

On his end, he did feel lighter. And the Ghost energy built within his hands seemed to flow a little easier as a result. 

No way.

After taking a moment and building up the green energy in his palm, Danny thrusted his right arm forward and fired a blast straight towards the target once again.

This time, the bolt impacted the right side of the middle tape ball, burning through the tightened wall of the object and eating through a majority of the interior. 

It wasn’t exactly on target, but it was a lot closer than he had shot previously.

“Nice, Fenton-san!” The tape hero enthused. And Danny very much shared his enthusiasm.

A ball of excitement welled in the teen’s chest, pushing him forward and moving. He raised his palm and fired a second shot, impacting the right side tape ball.

The feeling of the energy. The adrenaline and instinct of the battle. Everything was rushing back to Danny at once. Feelings he really thought he’d never feel again. 

Three more shots echoed out as three balls of energy hit their targets, burning the last of Sero’s tape away.

“Dude!” The tape teen was grinning ear to ear. “It’s like you never lost it!” The tape boy crossed his arms and surveyed the green energy burning. “Damn, that UA Training really is no joke. Your welcome for introducing it to you!”

Danny, though brimming with excitement, smirked. “Oh, I’m supposed to thank you for a regiment that UA did all the work before?”

“That you wouldn’t have known about without me,” Sero said with a sly smile, though his tone was brimming with his own humor. “I am glad to see it worked so well for you though! It must feel good to have full access to your Quirk again after so long!”

Danny nodded. “Yeah, it really is. I didn’t realize-“ His train of thought stopped. And his mind focused on the words that Sero had slipped earlier. 

Full access.

The halfa raised his palm and flared his power once more. His energy blast came back, but nothing else came forward. No flying. No invisibility. Nothing.

The strangest part was the overall emptiness. Danny was tapping into his power for the first time in months. But it still felt like he was only drawing from the bare surface of it all. He knew the rest of his power was there. But… unreachable. 

Why? Danny didn’t know. But the ghost boy hoped he wasn’t too far off from it. Or it wasn’t out of his reach completely, as the small dot of fear in the back of his mind offered. 

And, with a start, he realized that he wasn’t the only one wondering about the state of his powers. He had someone to call.

“Listen, Sero.” Danny turned back to his bag and started to pack up. “Thank you, really, for everything. But I have to go. Sorry it’s so sudden.”

Sero looked back at his friend, at first in a bit of surprise that he wanted to leave so soon after getting his Quirk back. But he nodded.

“No, I understand. I think it’s been a hell of a day for everyone.”

“Yeah, you can definitely say that.” Danny agreed before turning back and extending his hand out towards Sero. “Thank you, Sero-san. Really.”

“Hey, we’re friends right?” Sero replied, shaking Danny’s hand firmly. “I figure it’s only right to do a favor for you.”

The Ghost boy nodded graciously at that before taking off down the side road back towards the route to Seicho’s house.

“Hey!” Sero called out. “Don’t think this is all free though! Like I said, you OWE me for all of this!”

Danny, despite his mind racing to what he could do to access everything, laughed and called back. “Yeah, I’ll get right on that after I count up the favors for all the English words you wanted to learn to sound cool!” 

As Sero humorously harrumphed a ways behind him, the halfa turned his attention back to the matter at hand. Or rather, the person at hand.

Pulling out the high tech green smartphone he had been given, Danny quickly scrolled his contacts and punched in the one person he could talk to freely about the extent of his powers.

It took a few rings, much to Danny’s own surprise (he was usually so punctual when it came to a ringing phone.), but it was answered.

“Fenton-san?” The voice of Seicho asked on the other end of the line. “What’s wrong? I told you to only call me at work-“

“In case of emergency, I know,” Danny quickly replied back. “But I think this more than qualifies as an emergency.”

“... You and Sero didn’t break something, did you?” Seicho asked after a beat. 

“What? No! We didn’t…” He thought back to the fence with the burning green hole in it. “Well, one thing. A VERY small thing. But that’s not important right now.”

“I’m just saying I don’t exactly have the deepest pockets right now, Fenton-san.” His guardian replied. “And my next paycheck probably can’t cover anything big that you-“

“Seicho,” Danny interrupted. “My powers came back!”

THAT silenced the nurse in an instant. For a moment, all Danny heard were the distant steps and chatter from the background of Seicho’s line.

“.... Came back?” The guardian sounded as astounded as Danny felt. “How? In what way?”

“It happened in the middle of training with Sero,” Danny sighed out in nervous excitement and worry. “And I got my power to fire off energy shots, but that’s it. Everything else isn’t coming back so far.”

“You can control it well?” Seicho sounded more worried than anything else.

“As well as I could before,” The halfa confirmed. “But I can’t control or summon my other powers. And I don’t know why.”

There was another brief moment of silence, as Seicho seemed to process the situation at hand. Danny couldn’t fault him. He had trouble processing it as well. 

Finally, his guardian spoke once more. “Are you heading back to the house?”

“As we speak.”

“I’ll meet you there, okay?” From the sounds of it, Seicho was rushing to pack up. “Don’t activate your powers again until I get there. I’ll meet you at the apartment.”

“Okay,” Danny replied, picking up his pace slightly down the road for no other reason than to make himself feel better. He needed to get to the bottom of this faster. “I’ll meet you there.”

With that, the ghost boy hung up the phone and quickly made his way forward down the street, excitement, uncertainty and fear brimming into a large storm within his chest. 

…

Never in the four years working at the hospital had Seicho ever called out early or out. With Adaption, he didn’t get sick very much at all. And he had more or less been by himself before he chose to let Fenton live with him, so there was no need to request time off for any special events. 

Needless to say, Seicho had always been a reliable worker.

Today would be different.

He was only halfway through his shift, yet he was quickly packing his bag and zooming through his pockets to check for his keys and wallet. It was an odd experience to say the least, but it was completely necessary in his mind.

Fenton’s Quirk had apparently resurfaced. And the kid was panicking over it, since he only had access to a limited amount of it. 

Seicho had seen enough Quirk cases to know that Fenton needed support more than anything else at the moment. And more than that, he had promised to see him through any issues and protect him. And he wasn’t one to skimp out on promises.

After he finally laced his shoes and found his coat, he zoomed out of the staff room and moved quickly down the hall. It didn’t even take him a minute to reach the front desk, where the familiar brown curly hair and brown eyes of the secretary looked on at him in surprise. 

“Seicho-san?” She asked in surprise. “You’re leaving already?”

“Emergency at home, Hatsue.” Seicho replied, breathless. “Please give my sincerest apologies to Doctor Borruko, but this can’t wait.”

She still looked surprised, probably from the fact that she had never seen Seicho in such a rush to leave. But she nodded. 

“I’ll pass the information on.”

Seicho bowed thankfully. “Thank you so much, Hatsue.” With that, he zoomed out the door.

He moved at a quick pace, not wasting any time as he dodged past people walking on the sidewalk. He was thankful that, though the Sun was setting, there was still enough light for him to find his way through the people in front of him with relative ease. 

It would have improved his own mood if he could sprint home and get there before anything else happened to Fenton, but he couldn’t risk that.

If he ran too fast, his Quirk would activate and try to give him a boost of speed through the increase of muscle or adrenaline. Which, in all fairness, sounded good on paper. But thanks to the unpredictable nature of his ability, he would never be sure if it would be just adrenaline to boost or if muscles would shoot out of his foot in a painful ripping and tearing way. 

And he would rather not risk crippling himself in this situation.

It took him longer than he would have liked, but Seicho eventually arrived at the doorway of his apartment, which he promptly unlocked and swung open.

“Fenton-san!” He called out loudly as he entered.

The apartment itself was intact, which Seicho was always thankful for (he paid too much for the apartment renovation to have it go all up in some), but his immediate worry still lied with the fourteen year old boy who had awakened his abilities again.

He called out once more and began stepping towards Fenton’s room, but stopped as the black haired ghost child stepped out.

“Seicho!” Fenton approached with a relieved smile. “Man, it’s really good to see you.”

“Likewise,” Seicho said with a relieved smile of his own before looking the boy up and down. “You aren’t hurt, are you?”

“No,” The boy shook his head. “Not at all.” 

“So you still have pretty good control of it right now?” 

Fenton looked slightly uncertain, which unnerved the nurse slightly. But he extended his hand and closed his eyes in concentration.

Fwwmmmm

Seicho looked on in amazement as a green almost liquid like energy encapsulated the entirety of Fenton’s hand, shimmering between his fingers and focusing on his open palm.

“I have pretty good control of this,” The ghost boy said after he opened his eyes and examined the power he held. “Enough where I can make small shots with it at least.”

He fired a focused beam forward and towards the sink, where it knocked into a dirty cup and sent it clattering near the drain itself.

Seicho looked on at the sink silently before turning back to Fenton. “THAT’S your ghost quirk? What happened to the invisibility and possession?” He had heard the kid describe it before, but he thought they were low powered and not the main part of his Quirk.

The energy he had seen was anything but. 

“Well,” The ghost boy held out his hands. “My power, I think, is that I can, like, use the Ghost energy in my body to do a lot of things. Like invisibility, possession and using that energy to make bolts.”

As if to prove his point again, Fenton shot another small beam to knock a dirty plate into the sink. The shot went wide and instead scarred the back of the wall near the sink with a deep black patch.

Seicho looked back towards Danny incredulously. “Hey!”

“Sorry!” Fenton quickly dissipated his power. “It’s been a while! I’m a bit out of practice!”

Seicho sighed, but he let the matter go. In a way, he was surprised and thankful it took the kid this long to really do anything to the house itself. That aside, the guardian turned his attention back to the matter at hand.

“So you said you can do everything you can do with this Ghost energy,” The nurse repeated. “But you said you couldn’t access everything, right?”

For the first time, genuine frustration and anger crossed over Fenton’s expression. His blue eyes focused to the ground in thought as he crossed his arms. 

“No. I can’t do anything else other than my energy bolts,” He sighed. “I tried back with Sero and a few times before you got here, but nothing is coming back no matter how much I try to tap into it. And… it’s starting to freak me out a little.”

Based on the tone that he relayed this information with, the ghost boy wasn’t exaggerating. He held quite a bit of nervous fear inside thanks to the limit to his Quirk. And it looked like it was eating him up to no end.

Seicho couldn’t claim to know who Fenton was before or what the full extent of his abilities were, but it seemed to concern the kid so much, the nurse had a hard time believing his powers weren’t exactly like he said they were. And since that was the case… 

“I mean, first of all, it’s great to hear you have the beginnings of your Quirk back.” The nurse said with genuine excitement. “But the most important thing right is that you’re safe and you have relative control over your Quirk. There’s a lot of ways this could have happened, but I think it’s good we are where we are, right?”

Fenton looked back up at Seicho. “... Well, when you put it that, yeah. Things could have been way worse. And I’m glad they weren’t.” He flexed his hands. “It’s still really weird that I can only access one power when I could access it all before…”

“We can talk about that, I promise,” Seicho assured. “For now, let’s eat. I’m sure your training with Sero worked up an appetite. And I kind of skipped lunch when I rushed home to help you out.”

“... Food does sound really nice right now.” The ghost boy admitted sheepishly, which was good for Seicho to hear.

He had learned quite a bit about unstable Quirk situations during his time at the hospital. And one of the first things taught to him in that time was to first keep the patient’s mind from focusing too much on the negative aspect. 

If they dived too much into that aspect, it was likely they would lose control or use of their Quirk altogether. And it was always best to keep the conversation moving forward and away from that until you were ready to press the situation forward.

With that in mind, Seicho set about preparing his traditional special chirashizushi and set about two plates for Fenton and himself. 

It took him a little more time than usual, seeing as he had to change halfway through after remembering it wasn’t wise to stain his nurse uniform, but he served a heavy helping to both plates and sat down with Fenton at the table. 

Seicho set his chopsticks in hand and regarded the black haired blue eyed boy in front of him, sending him a comforting smile. “Alright. Let’s start from the beginning, Fenton-san. What happened today that triggered your abilities?”

Fenton didn’t waste any time. He quickly relayed to Seicho exactly what happened back at the school and what he and Sero talked about before the energy in his palms suddenly activated. He explained the brief training session they had and the feeling of repressed energy he felt deep down, almost like the rest of his Quirk was waiting for him before he returned back to the apartment.

“... and I tried to get more of my ghost energy forward while I waited for you,” Fenton concluded, now staring at his empty plate. “But nothing really changed. I’m still stuck where I’m at for now.” 

“I wouldn’t call it ‘stuck’, Fenton-san.” Seicho said. “You’ve still made progress, haven’t you? Hell, when you woke up this morning, I bet you never considered you would be getting your energy blasts back.”

“I didn’t,” Fenton agreed. “And I’m grateful to have this power back, don’t get me wrong! It’s just…” He sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s selfish. But I always kind of thought that if I got my pow… my Quirk back, it would be all of my abilities at once. Like things used to be. This?” He sighed again. “I don’t get this.” 

“...” There was a moment of silence on Seicho’s part as his mind ran through the information that Fenton had told him. Finally, he folded his hands together in thought. “Do you mind if I ask you something personal, Fenton-san?”

Fenton noticeably tensed at that, which gave Seicho a little bit of hesitance. He didn’t want to press the kid if it made him uncomfortable. That was one of the last things he wanted. 

But the tense nature of the ghost boy didn’t last long and soon nodded his approval of the question.

A bit more cautious not to make the atmosphere tense in any way, Seicho approached his question carefully. 

“I’m not going to pretend I know what happened before we met,” The nurse began. “Or what you’ve been through. But it seems like whatever may have happened before you and I met, you carry most of the blame on yourself, right?”

The ghost boy kept his eyes on his empty plate. And he got a faraway look on his expression, one stooped in sadness. 

“You would to, if you had seen what I’ve seen.” Fenton replied quietly.

“... I don’t doubt it.” Seicho agreed.

“All I’ll say is that it was a situation that could have been avoided if I just stopped altogether or moved faster,” The ghost boy’s tone cracked and sadness was laced into his words now as he recalled the event only known to him. “And I wasn’t able to stop it in time… and it cost me everyone.” 

Another, more uncomfortable silence filled the room. But it wasn’t on account of Seicho not knowing how to react to a situation like Fenton’s. In fact, it was more to the fact that Seicho had seen this situation play out in a way he couldn’t stop.

“... And everything you thought you had to do, like trying to keep away from hero schools or just hero stuff in general… that’s all something you think needs to be done to atone?”

“I’m not a hero, Seicho,” Fenton said with grim assurance. “I couldn’t save anyone when it mattered most. I really don’t think any one of the people I let down would want me to continue after I failed to save them. If you want an answer, there it is.”

Seicho said nothing, instead studying the downward cast expression of the boy as well as his closed in stance. If he didn’t want to talk about it, that was fine. But what the ghost boy was doing here wasn’t that. It was almost like he was trying to contain himself to his words, in a way.

He kept his arms crossed and refused to make eye contact with Seicho, but his eyes were brimming with sadness yet uncertainty.

“Maybe not being a hero in your mind,” The nurse began slowly. “Means no powers as well.”

This time, the boy's eyes met his.

“What do you mean?” 

“You said you didn’t think that you deserved to be a hero. That your loved ones would be happy if you stopped being a hero after what happened to them,” The nurse leaned forward. “What if you’re carrying that out subconsciously to your Quirk as well?”

The ghost boys expression shifted at that, from one of sadness to confusion and curiosity.

“No,” Fenton said after a moment. “No, if that was true, I would have been able to activate my powers when I tried to get them out, right? I can’t suppress them without knowing I’m doing it.”

“Why not?” Seicho asked. “If people are able to suppress and forget traumatic memories in order to live their lives, who’s to say the same can’t be said in your case?

“It seems to me like you’ve been cut off from the rest of your abilities by your own fears and judgements on yourself. And, even with your own drive to get back your Quirk, you’re still blocking yourself.”

“And what makes you so sure?” Fenton asked, cautious curiosity to his tone. 

“What you said about your Quirk coming back after your talk with Sero. There’s a reason for that, I feel.” The nurse pursed his lips. “Just for a brief moment, you considered Sero’s words in the moment. And you doubted your own idea that this is what everyone would have wanted. For a moment, your subconscious wavered. And it allowed you access to your Quirk.”

And that gave Fenton a longer silence then ever before. Seicho half expected the kid to jump up and scream at him that he was wrong. 

But Fenton was different. He seemed to take Seicho’s words in and really think about them. There was no absolute denial on his part. And that made Seicho thankful.

He was already fearful of offending Fenton accidently from just bringing up a past that he obviously didn’t like to talk about. But more than anything, the nurse wanted to help the boy in any way he could. And he drove this point to help the ghost boy to the best of his ability.

“That… can’t be it,” Fento replied, though he sounded as unsure as he looked. “After… EVERYTHING I failed at, I was so sure that keeping away from it… was my answer.”

“...The body and the mind are two very different things, Fenton-san,” Seicho said as he stood up from the table. “Maybe in the moment, in the aftermath, stepping away from the hero role seemed like the best thing to do. But, in the long term, you have to ask yourself: What do you really want? And what was important to you before?” 

With that, the nurse took both empty plates and took them to the sink. “It’s just a theory, anyway. But at the moment, Fenton-san, it sounds like the person preventing you from accessing your Quirk is yourself. And the best solution for that is really to decide what path you want to take.” 

The ghost boy said nothing for a while, almost making Seicho think that he had left while his back was turned. 

“How?” And when Seicho looked back, he saw Fenton was staring intently at his own hands, a maelstrom of emotions and prominent indecision within his gaze. He looked up to match the eyes of the nurse. “... How do you know so much about this?” 

For a moment, Seicho wavered. Emotions biled in the back of his throat as he remembered the pain he himself had went through all those years ago.

“... You’re not the only person who’s gone through such pain, Fenton-san.” Seicho said with a nod. “Always remember that you’re not alone in this. Especially not in this house.” He ran a towel over a drying dish as his own eyes fell away from Fenton and focused out the window to the stretching line of the Mustafu buildings. “I’ll tell you what that means in detail another time. For now, get some rest, okay? You look pretty exhausted.” 

The ghost boy didn’t argue with that. With a nod, the black haired boy stood from the table and bowed. “Thank you for dinner, Seicho-san. And the advice.” 

And with that, Fenton made his way towards his room and shut the door behind him.

A quiet atmosphere settled across the kitchen, only interrupted by the ruffle of the towel as Seicho traced circles around the once wet plate.

His own sigh was as audible to him as ever. So much so, he could hear his own traces of anxiety within the action.

“I’ve helped you the best I can, kid,” Seicho said softly. “The rest comes down to you. And what you want to do.” 

He placed the dry dish to the counter and went to the phone at his side. He opened it and his eyes went to the message sent a good time ago that remained unresolved.

From: Officer Tsukauchi 

Is he doing alright?

The message was simple enough, but it was a simple head to what Tsukauchi meant underneath it all. Seicho had informed the officer on his way back home of the situation at hand. And Tsukauchi, ever the worrier, wanted to know if his Quirk was stable or not. Which, with the current predicament at hand, Seicho wasn’t entirely sure of himself.

After staring at the message for about five minutes, trying to find the right words to reply with, he finally decided.

To: Officer Tsukauchi 

His Quirk is stable for now. And Fenton is having little trouble controlling the power he has now. There’s nothing I can call a problem at the moment, but I’ll keep an eye out.

It was all he could really say at the moment because he really didn’t know what was going to happen next. 

That all lay with what Fenton would do next… 

…

Only a few days had passed since his talk with Seicho. But for Danny, it felt like a lot longer. 

He really blamed his own indecision and turmoil in that. Danny didn’t know WHAT to think in light of everything Seicho was talking about. 

A part of him wanted to deny it. Say that it was stupid to think that his own decision led him to not being able to use his powers. Him doing what was right was wrong? Keeping distance from the hero business that has cost his family and friends everything was not what he wanted? He wanted to just say that Seicho had it way off and look for another angle to view this from.

But, at the same time, a part of him also felt that what Seicho was saying wasn’t entirely false. Thinking back on it, the first time his powers had failed on him was back when Clockwork confronted him. Right after… everything happened. After he had made the mental decision that he couldn’t be called a hero after failing everyone he loved. And the one time his powers surfaced is when he doubted his own way of thinking.

It could all be a coincidence, but it was too much of one to deny that Seicho’s theory had a LOT to it.

These two trains of thought collided constantly against each other in his head. And it got to the point where it started to affect his sleep. Like now.

Sighing, Danny sat up in his bed and rested his face in his hands. He honestly didn’t know what to do next. And that bothered the heck out of him.

Throughout his life, Danny always tried (he didn’t always succeed, but he tried) to find a path and keep to it. In his own world, he knew that he wanted to help his family, friends and town. And that’s what he always did. Regardless of what happened, he always went forward with the intention of helping.

He had carried that method over to his schoolwork, home life and pretty much his entire existence. Whatever happened, he would keep to a path. And he wouldn’t deviate. He knew what he needed to do next to help his situation.

This time, he really had nothing. No plan going forward, no idea what was true and what was false. Really nothing to go on. And it would remain that way unless he acted.

“... So I have to act.”

With that, the ghost boy left the warmth of his bed and stepped out into the cold interior of his room. He flexed his hands and arms while releasing a strained exhale. And he made his way out to the hall.

His thoughts, heavy as they were, went back to one aspect of his conversation with Seicho that stood out prominently: the question of what he wanted. 

At the moment, Danny just didn’t want anything holding him back anymore. He wanted to know what he was doing. What he wanted to do. 

He wanted clarity. 

The ghost boy made his way to the center of the apartment's living room and took his position as he always did: arms flexed out and chest straightened.

He hadn’t tried to practice fully tapping into his powers on his own for about a few weeks. Truth be told, he stopped trying out of frustration and the fact that his training with Sero had been picking up to a point where he thought he didn’t need to really do it solo anymore. 

And the last couple of days had been too hectic to really try again.

But, with his own frustrations at the possibility that he may be holding himself back, Danny felt now was as much of a time as any to try again and hopefully figure out this situation.

Before, he always tried to tap into his powers without much thought to anything else. Everything he did was concentrated on trying to pull his powers back to his control, which felt almost like pulling a chain out of ten foot mud. 

Now, he was going into this with a new idea about what he could be looking or feeling for. Or, to put it more accurately, what he hoped to find.

“Okay…” Danny exhaled, balled his hands into fists and closed his eyes. “Concentrate.”

With the apartment gone from his sight and now alone with his thoughts, Danny mentally reached down to the pit of his chest and towards the ball of energy that rested in it’s deepest recesses. 

Immediately, familier pangs of adrenaline surged through his body as he took that energy and began to draw it forward and around his body. At the same time, the halfa fought to keep his thoughts together and on the draw of the energy, making sure it would envelope his entire body as opposed to only certain areas.

It didn’t even take a minute for Danny to feel the intermediate tickle as ghost energy began to dance between his fingers, which was a relief. Ever since he got the ability back, he held the fear that it may just not come back one of these days. But, for now, it seemed stable.

That couldn’t be said for the rest of his abilities.

Just like the numerous attempts beforehand, Danny tried to push the full extent of his energy out and take on his full ghost form again. But the halfa was met with nothing but strained silence for his efforts.

This would usually be about the part where he would start to ease to save his energy, but that wouldn’t do tonight.

Danny knew that this had to end. And he was willing to keep going. However long it took.

“I’m not slowing down,” The Fenton muttered as he kept pushing out his energy. “I’m not going anywhere until I find out the truth!”

At that, the energy around him intensified, almost as if egged on by his words. And he felt a small bit of new energy bubble to the surface.

But with that, there came a sinking gut feeling and an ache to his heart unlike anything else. Tears began to well in the young man’s eyes as a wave of emotions poured into his gut, alongside an immense guilt.

You couldn’t save them.

You should have been faster.

You should have been stronger.

You should have stayed with them.

You should have not risked it.

With a gasp, the ghost boy stumbled slightly. And the ghost energy built up around him shook. “What… is this?”

You can’t call yourself a hero. You can’t call yourself anything. They wouldn’t love you after this. Nobody would love you after what you’ve done.

“...” Danny couldn’t vocalize in the midst of this onslaught of guilt and anger. It was as if every ounce of pain he had suffered was coming at him all at once. And he couldn’t stop it.

The ghost energy he had built up stopped its increase altogether and began to shrink around him as the emotions piled in faster around him.

You can’t justify your want of your power back.

You don’t deserve any of this.

You’re no hero.

You’re a fraud.

“I…” The ghost boy lowered his palms, defeat sinking into his chest. “I’m…”

“You need a cool sounding hero name to go with that costume, Danny.”

Within the maelstrom of storming emotions and feelings, a voice stuck out to the ghost boy. One familiar enough to draw him out of the pit.

“... Tucker?”

His thoughts solidified. And he began to recall a distant memory, back from when he first got his powers.

“I’m just saying the Phantom Foley sounds too good to pass up,” The tech whiz had added with a childish smile. “Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? OW!”

That last exclamation was from the balled up fist of Sam slamming into his shoulder.

“It’s not just about what sounds cool, Tucker!” Sam said in a stern voice. “This is Danny’s choice. He’s the one with the ghost powers.”

“Just offering a friendly suggestion,” Tucker had muttered before looking back towards Danny’s way. “But you are the one with the powers, Danny. So it is up to you on what you’re going to call yourself.”

“And no matter what you choose,” Sam added with a smile. “It’s probably going to stick regardless. Amity Park has never had a superhero before. So this is going to be one GIANT first.”

… Tucker and Sam… they wanted me to be a hero from the very beginning. They helped me do that from the very beginning.

“Hoist the plasma net upright, son!”

Another voice broke through the current of emotions. One that gave Danny’s heart a jolt unlike any other.

“Dad…?”

“Jack, it’s still too heavy for him. I told you to lighten the center console at least.”

“Mom…?”

“Nonsense! He just has to get used to the weight and he’ll be running alongside us in no time!” His dad laughed aloud before his voice heightened, like he was leaning in to talk directly to Danny. “He’ll be fighting ghosts soon enough, just like his old man! I can already tell that he’s going to be one of the best ghost hunting heroes around!”

Heroes. Danny’s heart twisted like never before.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Jack.” His mom’s voice broke through. “There’s still a lot of training for Danny to go through. But…” She laughed. “Once that training is done, he definitely will be!”

Danny felt his throat tighten and turn hot as pain coursed through his chest. He had forgotten… exactly how much his friends and parents had supported him. They had wanted him to be a hero. And that wouldn’t have changed, regardless of what happened.

“I…”

Failure.

You can’t live up to what they want.

You can’t be a hero.

“I’ve got your back, Danny.”

“... Jazz?”

“Your secret is safe with me.”

All at once, Danny’s mind cleared. And he truly realized how much he had been missing. 

In his own sadness, he had decided what would be appropriate to honor everyone he had lost without thinking about if it was what they would have truly wanted.

Seicho had been right. This wasn’t the way to honor any of them. And this wasn’t what Danny wanted. More than anything, he wanted to continue to make his family and friends proud.

And what he had been doing… it was all wrong.

Failure.

“But I can still get back up,” Danny growled as he came to a stand, the ghost energy building up around him. 

You failed to save any of them.

“And I can’t fail them anymore by not continuing to pursue what they wanted me to be!” 

You were never strong enough. Fast enough.

“And I won’t get faster or stronger by giving up.” The energy swirling around Danny began to encompass him.

This path will lead you down a route of pain and suffering.

“Maybe,” The halfa clenched his fists. “But it will also give me both hope and drive, as well as to the people I want to save.”

You can’t be a hero again. 

“I won’t know that until I try. And I want to try.”

All at once, the energy around him calmed, almost as if completely bracing against the storm it once was. The whips of energy that had once carried off of him suddenly fell back and settled onto his body.

His control, which felt so far away before, suddenly became front and center in his mind. And he could at last breathe. His body felt light, but heavy. The ghost energy within him felt calm to the point of easily swaying with any movements of his arms or legs.

For the first time in a long time, Danny felt completely in control. 

The halfa moved to feel his forehead to make sure he wasn’t in the middle of a delirious fever from all this. And when he looked down to his hands, he was met with the familiar glow of the white and black design of the gloves he had long gotten used to starting at.

His entire body, in fact, was now aglow in the familier design of black-and-white that he had worn for almost a year back in his own reality. 

His symbol remained proudly emblazoned in the center of his chest. And a glimpse to the small mirror above the kitchen sink confirmed what Danny had already suspected: his hair was now as white as pure snow. And his blue eyes were now a glowing green.

At first, shock made it almost impossible for a single thought to occur in Danny’s head. This couldn’t be real. This couldn’t be happening.

Yet the ghost boy wasn’t being startled awake. This was real. His powers had fully returned.

“No way…”

As he took in the sight of his returned ghost form, Danny also became aware of the streak of wet that made its way down his cheek.

He had been crying without knowing it. And Danny wasn’t sure if it was due to his powers returning or the release of some of the guilt present. Either way, it made his heart hammer in his chest.

“Okay…” The ghost boy cleared his head and flexed his arms. “First, I-I need to test to see if I actually have them all back.” 

With an exhale of excited breath, Danny took a step towards the wall of the kitchen and tentatively reached his hand forward. As his fingers pressed against the surface itself, the ghost boy closed his eyes. 

Nervous anticipation sparked in his chest as he focused his thoughts forward, like he had many times before. He concentrated on the want for his hand to phase through the wall itself and focused whatever energy he could on that goal.

Just as soon as those thoughts started to prominently enter his head, he felt the energy in his palm pulse. And he suddenly slammed face first into the wall.

“OW.” Danny exclaimed as he recoiled in pain and attempted to blink the spots out of his eyes. 

When his vision finally cleared, he found his hand phasing completely through the wall, rifting the material around it in visible ghost energy.

Danny’s mouth hung open as he pulled his hand slowly out from the wall and stared in disbelief. Then he began to laugh.

“No way.” 

He quickly shifted gears towards his ability to fly. And willed his spectral “tail” forward.

Sure enough, with a rush of ghost energy Danny hadn’t known since he first arrived in this reality, his legs popped together and became a phantom wisp, allowing him to almost effortlessly float. 

“They’re back,” He said in pure joy, fresh tears brimming from his eyes. “They’re all back.”

He flexed his arms out once more, pushing forward his invisibility. And sure enough, his body shimmered and disappeared from view.

This time, he wasn’t allowed the full time to experience his joy, as he suddenly felt his body droop in exhaustion and his breathing heavy.

At the same time, his powers fluctuated. And both his invisibility and tail dropped.

“Okay,” Danny took a steady breath. “I think I’m a bit out of practice…” The Fenton stood. “... But that’s not the important thing.”

Taking a more cautious approach, Danny slowly levitated off the ground and, once again, pressed his hand against the wall.

His hand phased through once more. And the halfa didn’t waste anytime after. Grinning, the boy pushed himself completely through the wall, watching as his body passed through pipes and interior lining before popping into existence in the night air of Mustafu.

He was floating three stories up in front of the apartment building, the one stretching road that connected the complex to the rest of the city stretching below him. The cityscape itself was an ocean of car and building lights, almost completely lighting up the night sky above the ghost boy with a sunset-esque color. It was the first time Danny had really been by himself at night in the stretching city. 

People below walking on the sidewalk paid him no attention. They didn’t even look up. Danny was invisible to the world once again. And that realization, that feeling of freedom he hadn’t felt in so long… it was overwhelming. Another feeling of nostalgia he had long forgotten. 

With a small chuckle, the halfa wasted no time. He twisted his tail to the sky, stretched his arms forward and rocketed up towards the night sky.

He really didn’t know how fast he was going. He didn’t care. All he knew as he spun freely in flight and laughed aloud as he soared past the stretching buildings and out of earshot was the joy of knowing he hadn’t lost who he once was.

All this time, he feared that he wasn’t who he was. And he battled himself on whether it was a good or bad thing to feel that way in light of what it cost him. But here, relishing in the past that he had thought lost to him, he really didn’t feel any argument or guilt.

More than anything, he felt…

“Happy!” Danny shouted to no one in particular. “I’m so happy!”

With that, he ceased his flight in the atmosphere, did a roll in the air with such grace that it would have made Hawks jealous, and soared back down.

Looking at the stretching landscape from his height really gave Danny a grasp on how big Mustafu was. Definitely a step away from the small town of Amity Park. But regardless, it still gave Danny a rush to see the city rushing up to meet him all at once, almost beckoning him forward and past who he was before. 

And there was no doubt in Danny’s mind that he would follow that path.

As the many streets and traveling cars edged closer and closer to his vision, the halfa took a deep breath. He slightly shifted his whipping ghost tail at an angle and waited for his moment.

Right before he found himself face-planting against a highway overpass, he willed himself immediately to the right, arcing his direction at a breakneck speed and sending him rocketing to the buildings laid out on his immediate right side.

With his intangibility up, his impact was nonexistent. Instead, he soared straight through the largest window and zoomed through desks and people, trying his best to keep from laughing aloud as he did so. But it was a challenge.

A line of exclamations carried through the building as Danny soared through them invisibly. He knew that he was no doubt giving many people a chill as he passed. And he would challenge anyone to not at least get a chuckle out of the literal straight line of seriously confused line of people trying to figure out how the temperature dropped so dang fast.

Luckily, he was able to hold his laughing until he popped out of the other side of the structure. And there, he laughed to his heart's content, floating back in the air as he did so.

His laughing was, at first, about the people he confused. But it soon transformed into a more grateful and ecstatic laugh. One that truly was just enjoyment as opposed to anything else.

Danny had NO idea how much he had missed all of this. All that time doubting and suppressing his powers out of fear. It all seemed so far away now. He really was happy when he had his powers, he realized. And, while he still held his own reservations about the hero role as a whole, he knew what he wanted. And what his family and friends wanted. 

“I have a chance to do real good here,” Danny said quietly as he soared up and surveyed the city again. “And I’m not going to waste it. I got my powers back for a reason. This is a city of heroes, right?” He smiled. “So I’ll make sure to become better than I ever was before. And I’ll make sure nothing like what happened to me happens to anyone else.” Danny looked up. “‘Rise above.’ Okay, Clockwork. I can do that.”

…

Danny had continued to enjoy his powers for almost an hour after, soaring through the air and just enjoying the feeling of being himself again. But, unlike before, the continued use of his powers had actually taken a toll on him.

The halfa didn’t know yet whether it was because he was in a new world or because he just hadn’t used ghost energy in months, but it didn’t take long before exhaustion began to settle in his arms, legs and chest. His own breathing began to heavy like before and his invisibility became harder and harder to manage. 

So, even though a part of him wanted to keep enjoying the night of Mustafu like he couldn’t before, he eventually returned to Seicho’s residence, more exhausted than anything else.

With another activation of his intangibility, he phased through the outside wall of the apartment and found himself inside the kitchen once again.

Without wasting any time, he landed back on the ground and let out a tired sigh of relief. At the same moment, the familier pure white circle encircled his chest and stretched across the entirety of his body. It phased away the black and white colored costume in seconds. And soon, Danny was back in his pajamas like nothing had ever happened.

“That… was a lot more tiring then I remember,” Danny said aloud as he tried to catch his breath. “But… it was worth it.” The ghost boy smiled as the spikes of adrenaline still kicked in his system. “I’m glad to see that everything works like I remember it.” 

“And I’m surprised how all of it works in general.”

The halfa jumped about a foot and quickly whirled around. There, sitting at the side of the table, obscured in darkness and sipping at a mug, was Seicho. 

“You did go into great detail about your Quirk, but I never imagined it was so versatile.” He waved his hand. “In regards to the phasing through walls aspect of it.” 

Danny, who was taken aback at first, sighed and resigned himself to the questioning that was about to take place. He couldn’t exactly deny what Seicho had seen. And he really didn’t want to, regardless. 

“How did you know I was gone?” The halfa asked sheepishly. 

“Well, I was worried. As any guardian would be.” Seicho answered. “I heard you leave your room and I had thought you were just going to do your usual practice routine. So I was about to fall asleep. Then I heard you crying. And you sounded like you were in pain.” He shrugged. “THAT really worried me, so I jumped out of bed and went to check on you. And I find you with your hand halfway through my wall.”

Danny smirked. “So you really did see it all.”

“Every bit!” Seicho exclaimed, more excited than mad at this point. “Your hair was pure white, your uniform just appeared out of thin air and you completely phased through the wall while flying!” He chuckled. “Like I said, I expected quite a bit. But nothing like this.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear I lived up to your expectations.” The halfa shared in his guardian’s laugh and they settled into a much more comfortable atmosphere. “So, am I in trouble?”

“Well normally yes. I think it’s generally considered a good idea to punish a kid who thinks it’s okay to run out of the house and leave his guardian worried.” Seicho shrugged. “But I would be lying if I said you were the only person I’ve ever seen in my life sneak out to explore the city. And things were happening pretty quick and fast with your Quirk, so I’m not going to hold anything against you here. You're lucky I get the wanton curiosity you get at your age.”

Danny exhaled a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Thank you for that.”

Seicho still had the presence of humor on his expression, but his gaze switched to one of more concern. “Joking aside, kid, how are you holding up? You didn’t really try to deny that you were crying. And, while I’m happy your Quirk is working again, I wouldn’t be doing my job properly if I didn’t ask what exactly you decided within yourself to reach this point again.”

“No, I get it.” Danny crossed his arms. “To answer your question, I’m… holding up okay, I think.”

“Really?” Seicho asked, with either a tone of curiosity or concern. Or both.

“Yeah. It was all… painful at first, I’ll admit it. There was a reason I avoided confronting it for so long. And to be honest…” His gaze dropped to the floor. “... I don’t think there will ever be a moment where I won’t feel pain. What happened to my family was… horrible. And nothing can ever change that.”

But, instead of keeping eyes to the floor like so many times before, he looked back up and focused on Seicho’s gaze.

“But facing everything again also really showed me what I’ve been missing this whole time. Everything’s been a mess for so long. And I didn’t even know what I could begin to do to fix it all. But…” The halfa smiled. “I think I know the direction I want to go now. One that would make everyone who isn’t here anymore happy, you know? And one that’ll really give me a direction to go.”

The Fenton boy was expecting Seicho to send further questions his way. Instead, the nurse’s smile only brightened and his eyes shined, as if Danny had done something spectacular.

“And any decision you make on that will be heavily supported by me.” Seicho said as he stood and placed his hands on his hips in what could only be described as an attempted heroic stance. “Though money wise, I would rephrase that ‘heavily’ to ‘somewhat moderately’. We’re not rich enough to really emphasize that ‘heavily.’”

“Because of all the Kamui Woods merchandise?”

Seicho immediately went defensive, pointing an accusatory finger at Danny. “Hey, it’s not a crime to like a hero, okay?!”

Honestly, it was a miracle that Danny heard him over his own laughter. And it was only intensified as Seicho scowled at his response. 

“I’m glad you find my enthusiasm for Woods so funny,” He said with a sigh. But he looked just as amused as he did so.

Danny’s laugh tempered, but his relieved and humored smile remained. “Seriously. Thank you, Seicho-san. You’ve really helped me these last two months. And I’m grateful.”

“Well, it’s the least I could do, Fenton-san.” Seicho said. “Who in their right mind would feel right leaving a fourteen year old kid in the streets of the big city.” He raised an eyebrow. “Though if I know your personality would be like this, I would have followed my gut and kept quiet.” 

“Too late for takebacks.” 

Seicho sighed in exasperation, but continued. “If you don’t mind my asking, what’s this path you’ve decided on?”

Danny smiled at his guardian. “Well, I will say this: it’s definitely not something I expected to go back to so soon.”

…

If you were to ask Sero himself, he would pretty much all but guarantee he was a pretty confident guy. He had to be at times. Seeing as how his Quirk was usually one that people looked down on, he had learned to bolster how he used and what he himself thought of his tape in order to improve how people saw him.

His parents always told him that confidence was the key to anything. And, as a result, he developed a whole lot of it.

He had no nervousness when he used his Quirk, none when he failed at using his Quirk, and overall none when he became really familiar with his surroundings. Like Kaizen Middle School.

When it came to this place, he knew it like the back of his hand. Which friends had what schedules, what teachers taught what classes. He was pretty confident he knew just about every aspect of the school, since he had been going here for so long.

But today was different. In particular, one thing was different for Sero: Fenton-san was late.

“That’s strange.” Sero scratched his head as he looked back towards the main clock in the center building of the school. “8:25. Fenton should be here by now. That guy is never late.”

Yet his friend was nowhere to be seen. Sero frowned. He wondered if this had anything to do with what happened a few days back when they were training. He had to admit that Fenton had gotten all the more reserved after that, it seemed like.

Still, that never stopped him from coming to school on time before. And a spark of worry for the ghost boy emanated in the tape hero’s mind. 

He waited another two minutes in front of the school before turning back and taking the first few steps to follow his fellow classmates inside the building.

Weird, Sero thought to himself as he approached the doors to the main building. Maybe he’s sick or something. 

No sooner had that thought crossed his mind, there was a cold chill at Sero’s side that seemingly rushed past him. 

The tape hero turned in confusion, wondering if he had gotten the tail end of someone’s Quirk and if he needed to tell that someone to watch it with their powers. But he didn’t see anyone directly behind him. Everyone else was too far away to really do anything so close to him.

Sero looked around for a moment before shrugging and turning back, sure that it was the wind. 

“Man, you’re usually the one rushing me to get to class. It feels weird to be ahead of you for once.”

Sero jumped in shock as he suddenly found his missing friend ahead of him and at the top of the stairs. “Fenton-san? When did-?” 

His words died in his throat as he took in the full appearance of the ghost boy. Fenton now sported pure white hair and green glowing eyes that glimmered in mocking humor (standard for Fenton) . He wore his school uniform, but it now held a white glow that seemingly hung off the uniform itself.

But that wasn’t what drew a majority of Sero’s attention. No, that was to the fact that his friend had no legs. Instead, a wisp-like tail made up nearly the entirety of his bottom half and seemingly supported him in circular wisps as he hung in the air above the stone steps.

It was certainly a shock to see Fenton like this. Not only for Sero, but for a lot of their classmates passing by. A good many whispered under their breaths. Some were just awed at the power of Fenton’s Quirk. He had been without his Quirk for so long, some thought he had genuinely been Quirkless.

“Whoa! What the hell happened to you?!” Sero demanded, an astonished and awed smile drawing across his own expression.

“Well, let’s just say...” Fenton’s wisp tail suddenly straightened. And it suddenly completely vanished as two full sized legs popped out in their place and plopped down to the stone step below. “... I’m at full power.” 

“Dude! You got your Quirk back?!” Sero beamed. “When?!”

“Last night.” He answered, his tone somewhat reserved. But that was hardly noticed by the tape hero. 

“Freaking fantastic! I told you that training would pay off!”

Fenton smirked. “I was just about to thank you, but since you’re already patting yourself on the back…”

“And why wouldn’t I?” Sero retorted with a haughty expression. “I said the training would work out. And to me, it looks like it really did.” The look on Fenton’s face only brightened Sero’s laugh further. I’m“But dude! That’s a seriously cool Quirk! You talked about it before, but seeing it in action is a whole different experience!”

“Well I’m glad it’s so popular.” His ghost friend said with a smile as they both resumed their walk down the hall and into their main class. “To be honest, I was kind of thinking that my… Quirk… would never fully come back. Even with our training going on. For once, I’m really glad I was wrong.”

“So am I,” Sero said with a chuckle. “After all that talk about what your Quirk could do, it would have just plain sucked if I was never able to see it in action.” The tape hero crossed his arms over his head. “One things for sure now: school is going to be a lot more interesting than it has for the past couple of months. Especially with a Quirk like yours. How the hell does it change your hair and eyes?”

Fenton shrugged. “It came with the Quirk. I didn’t really ask for it. But you have to admit…” He ran a hand through the pointed snow colored hair on his head. “It’s a cool look, right?”

Sero shook his head as they neared their shared first class. “I was going to go with ‘It makes you look old’.”

“Ouch,” Fenton replied in exaggerated fashion. Then he shrugged. “But if you don’t like it, I can always switch it back.”

Before Sero could ask further, there was a bright flash of light. And a pure white ring suddenly appeared around Fenton’s chest. In short order, the energy split and travelled both up and down the ghost boy, parting the white glow that once encompassed the boy and returning both his hair to black and his eyes to blue.

As soon as the energy reached both the very top and very bottom of Fenton, it dissipated, leaving Sero’s friend looking like his old self once more.

“Now you’re just showing off.” Sero fake muttered. He had to admit, that was one amazing Quirk. 

“Give me a break.” Fenton insisted. “This is the first time I really got to show off my powers. I never really got the chance back at home.”

“Hey, I’m not judging you!” Sero insisted. “I’d probably feel the same way if my Quirk had been pent up for as long as yours has. So go ham, I say! I mean, this school would definitely be more interesting with a haunting. Right Casper?”

Fenton snickered at that as they both finally reached the end of the long stretching hall and the door to their home room. Sero thought this would be the end of their conversation and the beginning of their true plans to haunt the heck out of the school. But Fenton wasn’t done just yet.

“Actually,” Fenton turned back to his friend. “I was thinking of haunting another place first. The training yard.”

“The training yard?” Sero turned to his friend, at first confused. Then, as he saw the Cheshire grin on the ghost boy’s expression, he knew exactly what he was implying. “Are you challenging me to a match?” 

“Well, I figured it’s only fair,” Fenton shrugged. “Seeing as how we’re on equal ground and I’m far less of a punching bag then before.”

“That doesn’t mean that still can’t happen,” Sero countered with a laugh of his own. “But are you sure you want to do this, Fenton-san? You’ve only had your Quirk back for a little while. And I’d hate to bum you out with a defeat.”

“Those are fighting words if I’ve ever heard them…” Fenton pointed out. Then he enveloped his hand in the green glow. “I know I’ve only had my powers back for a day, but I need to get some training done with them. Just to see if I can still do what I could before. Moves and all. And I figured I could kill two birds with one stone and get that done while paying you back.”

“... Where did THIS side of you come from?” Sero asked with a laugh. “I mean, of course I accept. I can’t let you smack talk me like that and get away with it. But since when do you get more pumped about training then me? That’s never happened before.”

Fenton thought for a moment before shrugging. “I guess you could say that I know what I want to do now. And, more importantly, where I want to go.” 

Confusion filled the tape boy’s mind. But before he could even ask, Fenton had opened the door and stepped into the class.

“I’ll tell you more about what I mean after our match. Or, preferably, after I’m done mopping the floor with you.”

With that, the ghost boy entered the classroom, leaving an already hyped up Sero even more so. 

Fenton seemed much more comfortable now. More so than he ever had before. And Sero didn’t know if that challenge came out of that new comfort or if this was just how Fenton had always been and he was just now seeing it. 

Either way, the tape boy clenched his fish in excitement.

“Oh, you are on, Fenton-san.” 

…

As the sun began its first signs of dipping in the sky, the bell finally rang at Kaizen Middle School. And Danny all but sprang out of his seat and quickly made his way to the training area. 

It would usually take him a little while to make his way down the winding stairs and past the sea of students that usually flooded them right after school. But now, not only did he have his powers back, he would be able to use them in a way he was never able to before.

With a smirk, Danny straightened. “I’m going Ghost!”

Like a nostalgic dream, the pure white ring stretched across his body once more and brought his abilities straight to the forefront. Even though he had done it countless times before in the past, he could never get over the feeling of power buildup that would conjure when he went ghost. And pride coursed through the fourteen year olds body as people looked on in shock.

With a wave goodbye to his classmates, the ghost boy took a breath and activated his flight at the same time as his intangibility. He soared away from his seat and quickly phased out the side of the wall and to the outside of the campus, leaving behind the lull of the class and welcoming the open air to his lungs. 

Without wasting any more time, Danny flew forward and towards the edge of the campus, towards the sports zone and his impending match with Sero.

While a small part of him had to admit to the fact that the whole reason he challenged the tape hero was to properly pay back the one sided training they had been doing over the past couple of months, there was more to it than that.

Ever since last night and his brief trip outside to the city, Danny had had his mind running a thousand miles per hour. He was grateful to have his powers back, but he was also worried about what was presented last night during his flight.

He had gotten really tired really fast when he used his abilities. Much faster than he had used to before. And, while it could be because he hadn’t used his powers in a long time, Danny couldn’t help but wonder if there was more to it than that. 

Getting that tired, to the point of literally just wanting to fall into bed and sleep for eternity… he didn’t feel that would be happening after only a couple months hiatus. So he wanted to test his abilities combat wise and, hopefully, see if he could still use them well in a fight.

Luckily, he had a partner in crime he knew would only be too happy to help him improve through some fight training. And it already looked like said partner had beat him to the arena. 

Standing there, arms crossed and his smug smile more present then ever, was Sero. He wore his regular school uniform, but both sleeves were pulled up to expose the two rotund bulges that made up his Quirk. He held the right side of the arena and presently stood guard there as he watched Danny approach and set down on the ground.

Before the halfa could even get a word out, Sero held up a tsking finger. 

“I beat you here, Fenton-san,” Sero said proudly. “First battle goes to me.”

“Wow.” Danny responded flatly. “Well one: if I knew we were racing I would have flown a lot faster. Two: your final class is MUCH closer to the arena than mind, so I would call that an unfair advantage.”

“No such thing as ‘unfair’ advantage, my friend,” Sero shot back, not dropping the smile. “Just advantages.”

“You’re the worst, Sero-san.” Danny said simply, but he smiled. “Alright. Ground rules?”

“We’ll use the same rules as always,” Sero replied as he stretched. “First one outside the gate or unable to move loses. Keep the destruction to a minimum. And, most importantly, no brutal shots to the face.” He smirked. “Wouldn’t want to disappoint any of the girls by damaging this mug.” 

“What girls?” Danny asked, stretching as well. “The ones that make it a daily rule to clear a mile wide gap for you?”

“Laugh it up, Casper.” The tape hero sneered. “We’ll see how well you can after I tape up that mouth of yours. Ghost Quirk be damned.”

“Big words before the battle,” Danny countered as he readied. He took a big intake of air and let it out, flapping both his hands and rotating his arms. He hoped his flight here wouldn’t be draining on his powers. And thankfully, it didn’t seem like it was. At least now. He’d have to test it further. “Alright. On the count of three?”

“Sounds good.” Sero agreed, pressing his hands against his organic tape dispensers in preparation.

“Okay,” Danny flared up his Ghost Energy and focused it to his palms for a beginning blast to throw the tape hero off his balance. “One.... Two... “ He felt the energy and heat build up between his fingers. “TH-”

In a flash, there was a quick crack in the air as Sero whipped his arms forward and threw what could only be described as a cage of tape forward and towards him. All at a speed he didn’t think his friend could hit.

With a yelp, Danny flew back and activated his intangibility at the same second the tape impacted against him. It slammed into him hard enough to throw him off balance slightly, but the full blow was lessened as the entirety of what remained of the lines phased through him and hit the gate behind him. 

He still hit the cement rather hard, but at least it was on his legs as opposed to his back, which was what Sero wanted, no doubt.

“Well,” Danny said as he dropped intangibility and threw his power to his hands. “You’ve gotten faster.”

“That or I’ve just been holding back!” Sero called back as he whipped another line forward and rocketed towards the halfa, leg up for an oncoming kick. 

The halfa reacted by throwing both of his arms forward and launching a pair of energy blasts to the oncoming opponent, who was, in turn, forced to react with an aggressive pull on the line of his tape in order to shift to the side fast enough to avoid the full impact.

But, the blast had been a bit faster than he would have thought. And the reaction wasn’t enough to stop one of the ghost energy blasts from hitting his shoulder, taking the tape hero’s attention away from Danny. And giving him the chance to counter.

He flew up from the pavement and soared towards the distracted Sero in mid-air, rearing back his fist as he did so. Not the face, right? His friend turned just in enough time to look on in shock as Danny launched his blow forward and to Sero’s side.

The impact produced a grunt of pain from the tape user, as well as a falter in the air as Sero lost his momentum and his grip on his swinging tape. 

“Not the face,” Danny said with a smile. “You’re welcome.”

The tape hero coughed as his elbow dispenser broke away from the tape he was swinging from and crumpled onto Danny with his full weight, which was what the halfa had hoped for.

Taking Sero by the arms and aimed to toss him outside the fence, he stopped as his arm was halted by a violent pull on his right arm and an onset of pressure.

“Yeah, thank you for that,” Sero wheezed for a moment, but his voice soon took on a full mocking tone. “I can still see how to properly dispense my tape thanks to that rule.”

Danny spluttered. He tried to turn to see what Sero had done to his arm, but was unable to as the tape hero quickly delivered a punch to the halfa’s gut, doubling him over and giving him the chance to shift himself onto Danny’s back.

As he did so, he quickly slung Danny’s already taped hand and his free hand into a strip of tape torn from the line of tape he had swung in on, effectively binding the halfa’s hands in the blink of an eye. And leaving the stunned ghost boy unable to properly react as he shot two new rows of tape directly down to the pavement below and pulled forward.

They rocketed towards the pavement, Danny’s eyes widening as he saw exactly how close he was to defeat. He gritted his teeth.

“You’re not winning yet!” Danny yelled out above to Sero. And, even though his body had begun to ache already, he activated his intangibility.

Immediately, the tape hero fell right through Danny and found he was only pulling himself towards the ground now. With a confused “Guh?!”, Sero righted his fall and loosed in on his tape, turning the plummet into a fall he could more easily roll out of.

As Sero cluttered and rolled to the ground, Danny ran through his head what he could play next. It was obvious that Sero had the advantage at range. But if Danny got close again, he couldn’t underestimate the tape hero.

“So…” Danny clenched his fists. “Let’s give him a disadvantage to work with.” With that, the halfa launched himself forward, fist raised for another hit. “Incoming, Sero-san!”

Sero, who was standing at this point and breathing slightly heavier then he had been before, made eye contact with the advancing ghost and smiled.

“You shouldn’t announce your attacks, Fenton-san!” He flipped both of his dispensers forward and fired another line of thick tape towards the ghost. “It gives enemies an easier target to hit!”

“If you can still see the target!” Danny called out before funneling his ghost energy around the entirety of his body and flipping on his invisibility.

At the same moment, he banked hard to the left in mid-air, shooting around the tape at a breakneck pace and zooming towards his unaware friend.

Meanwhile, the haughty smile Sero once wore faded, now replaced with genuine confusion.

“What the hell?!” He exclaimed as he looked wildly around. “Invisibility?! Now that’s just not fair!”

“It’s called an advantage!” The ghost boy called out at the same moment he became visible once more and his fist connected with Sero’s shoulder, sending the boy tumbling back. “And there’s no such thing as an unfair advantage!” And Danny vanished once more.

The tape user straightened and yelled out as he shot another line of tape where Danny used to be. But, with invisibility still up, the ghost hero held all the cards when it came to the turn of the battle.

He had already moved around Sero in the time it took him to recover and fire. And had already delivered another hit to his back. 

Danny’s breathing was beginning to heavy already as the switch offs of invisibility seemed to stack on. But he was still holding his own in the fight at hand, which was good. His worst fear was that he wouldn’t be able to at all. But he was holding.

And he hoped he would hold long enough to finish this fight.

Dodging another rampant swing of tape from Sero, Danny delivered another hit. This time to the tape man’s right dispenser. 

Bruises now prominent on both sides, Sero heaved and groaned as he rubbed at his arms.

“Call it, Sero-san!” Danny called as he swung around and readied himself for a charge to carry his friend outside the fence limit. “I’m one hit away from winning!”

“That is some big talk,” Sero wheezed, but a smile was prominent on his sweat streaked face as he searched the air for the invisible Danny. “But I’m sure you thought that when you had me in the air last time. And I still haven’t run out of tricks!”

“We’ll see about that.” Danny replied, his own smirk traveling across his expression. That was Sero for you: no matter what, he wouldn’t give in till he gave his all. 

Aiming his wisp like tail to the side to gain the momentum he needed to swing down and up with enough force to finish this fight, Danny shook off the bruises and tiredness from his body… and charged.

The wind whistled around him as he arced down and up with both fists out, ready to hit his friend out of bounds.

Or at least, that’s what he thought was going to happen.

“You’re too predictable, Fenton-san.”

In a flash, Sero threw both of his arms forward at almost the same time Danny dropped invisibility and intangibility. And he produced what could only be described as a widespread arc of tape. Connected by the two ends of the rolls on both of his arms, this ring bounced forward and around the tape master as he spread his arms far and wide, throwing the sticky cage a distance out and around him. And, more importantly, towards Danny, who couldn’t stop in time.

Immediately, the tape’s stick slammed into his chest and arms, molding them to the substance as a whole and weighing him down at the same time. Thanks to the slips, Danny plummeted directly down, following the falling tape to the cement below. 

Adrenaline kicked into high gear as Danny swiveled to kick the tape off, his mind quickly focused on intangibility.

But his thought wasn’t even fully produced before he felt two hard slaps on his back and a violent pull down. This was followed by a hard knee to the back, which threw Danny forward and tumbling to the ground. 

He groaned. “That… was clever. And what is that move?! I’ve never seen you pull that before.”

“Never had a reason to before,” Sero replied as he approached. “But your tricks there made it kind of necessary.” He said that with more praise than Danny could have imagined. 

The ghost boy tried to concentrate on his intangibility once more. “It was because I talked before attacking, right?”

“Actually, it’s because you’re kind of easy to predict.” Sero said with an exhausted smile. As he advanced, he pulled out two slips of tape in preparation for rendering Danny immovable and ending the match. “You were pulling a lot of quick jabs in there that you could quickly move away from to try and make yourself harder to catch. And it was giving me a hell of a time!”

But also, in order for that to work, you would have to keep close to me every time. So I just had to time your strikes just right. And…” He motioned to Danny. “Results.” 

Danny cursed himself. He WAS kind of used to pressing his advantage when it came to previous fights. And, in fairness, it did work out in his world. But it really didn’t work here and now.

“You’re going to have to change up strategies if you want to become less easy to read, Fenton-san.” Sero said as he bent down to tape down Danny’s arms and legs.

Change up strategies. 

Danny’s eyes hardened. Sero was right. He had to switch plays. 

“Fair enough, Sero-san,” Fenton admitted as he swapped his ghost energy from intangibility to focus on his palms. “Thanks for the advice.”

“Hey, it’s the least I could do after a match like this. You really kept me on my toes!”

“That’s good to hear.” Danny said, his smile growing. “But, we aren’t done here yet.”

Sero cocked his head in confusion, but couldn’t even get the words out for a question before a green bolt of energy shot out from the mass of tape around the ghost boy and struck the tape hero in his center chest. 

A massive “OOF” left his lips as he had the air knocked right out of his lungs and was launched back towards the fence line.

Not wanting to waste his opportunity, Danny arced the energy across the entirety of his arm and launched it in a wide arc across both arms, burning away the tape holdings and giving him some much needed breathing room.

His arms were now completely encompassed in the flowing green ghost energy, which shot almost electrical jolts throughout the lengths of both limbs. His chest and heart beat so fast, he thought they were going to pop out of his chest. And his breathing was now heavier then ever. 

He knew that he had poured a good amount of energy into the funneling power in his palms. And it was a risk. But at this point, he knew Sero knew how to counter past his intangibility/invisibility. And he couldn’t risk another capture by him. Not now. 

So, with a grit of his teeth, Danny swung his arms out and, while Sero stumbled to a stand about fifteen feet away, fired another powered blast towards him.

Sero, now visibly at his own point of exhaustion, quickly reacted. He shot his tape to the immediate left and took himself out of the way of the green beam. He hit the ground running and circled around the side of Danny at the same time the ghost boy ran to get on his side, as well as create momentum to try and jump and fly once more.

“Man!” Sero half-laughed, half-yelled as he rapidly fired tape balls towards the ghost boy. “You just don’t know when to quit, do you?!”

“Look who’s talking!” Danny countered at his own half-laugh/half-yell as he fired green energy shots right back at the tape boy and slapped away oncoming tape attacks with his energy embroiled hands. “I’ve never seen someone fight so hard in a fight they were about to lose!”

The halfa’s mind was only half into that insult, instead furiously racking into his own thoughts and strategies. 

His energy was pretty much spent at this point. Lack of practice and use was probably a factor in all of that. And the last of it was powered into his arms for blasts and defensive moves. If he tried anything else, he didn’t even know if he could summon it forward. Or if it would just flicker out if he did. 

That being said, it was obvious Sero was running out of steam as well. The hits he had taken had obviously made movement hard with the bruises he sustained. And it looked like he was just about at his limit tape wise, seeing as how he spent two pretty big moves recently.

Danny couldn’t attack at range out of risk of Sero picking him out of the air if he had the tape. And he couldn’t just keep running circles around him and hope for a lucky blow. What he needed was a solid, clean hit. Something that could make Sero drop his guard. And a move that could halt the tape user in his tracks.

But move wise, he had thrown pretty much everything forward at this point. There was really nothing else he could-.

His thoughts stopped. And, all at once, focused on the very name he had given his powers. The one that had made Sero so envious before. 

He had a chance.

Quickly, Danny halted his running and slapped a few more oncoming slips of tape out of the way, facing his opponent with determination. 

“Alright.” The halfa called out. “I’m tired and so are you. We’re both on our last legs here.” He raised a glowing green fist. “So how about we decide this already? You give your all, I give mine.”

Sero, who had had both dispensers out and rolling as he cut away ammo for their back-and-forth, had stopped when Danny had stopped running. And a tired smirk appeared on his sweat stained face. 

“You want to end this here and declare me the winner already? I’m all for it.” Sero reached out and fired one line of tape to the side of Danny, planting it firmly on the fence behind him. At the same time, he lowered his free fist and wrapped a ball of tape around it, moving it into what looked to be a makeshift cast so he could punch without fear of breaking anything. “I’m getting tired of running too.”

Danny laughed. “Then let’s hurry up and end this, Tape Boy.” And the ghost boy launched himself up from the ground and soared directly at his friend, his fist cocked back and ready to deliver a seemingly final punch. 

Sero responded with the screeching whine of his dispensers as he pulled himself forward on the length of the tape and flew towards Danny, his fist raised and ready to meet his opponent.

Time seemed to slow for the two friends as the distance between their strikes lessened and their anticipation grew. Neither of them were backing down. And both know that. This strike would be the deciding factor. The one that determined the winner and would decide once and for all who was stronger among the two.

This is something they had to put their everything into. And Danny understood that perfectly. Moments before each of their hits made, Danny turned his left shoulder to take the full force of the blow from Sero there while he curved his glowing fist up to make impact with the center of the tape boy’s chest.

There was an audible THWUMP as Sero’s fist slammed into his shoulder, rattling waves of pain throughout his side. But his own punch impacted as well, causing his friend to falter and begin to fly back from the force of the blow.

But Danny didn’t stop there. He couldn’t. He knew Sero would recover if he didn’t act now. His instincts and intuition on how to use his Quirk were top notch. There was no way he wouldn’t find a way to recover from this height. So he had to stop that from happening.

Using the last of his strength, he funneled his final push of ghost power to the entirety of his body. Exhaustion slammed into him like a truck, but he didn’t stop as his body took on a partial blue glow. And, leaning entirely into the hit as well as the tape hero’s body, the halfa vanished into Sero’s body.

The glow briefly took on Sero before the boy opened his eyes with a gasp, his eyes now a glowing green. 

Danny was now possessing his friend. But didn’t have time to feel proud of himself. He could already feel the sense of confusion bubbling up from Sero’s mind. He didn’t have long until the tape boy recovered enough to push him out.

More than that, he didn’t have that much time till exhaustion pushed him out altogether. And, as nostalgic he felt for the sense of possessing someone again, he couldn’t wait any longer.

Still being thrown back from the blow, Danny leaned Sero’s body back and offered no resistance to the force of the hit, sending the tape hero careening just over the fence without any resistance.

“Sorry, Sero-san,” Danny said as they fell. “But, at this point, this is the only way I can win. And told you that I was going to win over you for once!”

The possession was able to hold till just before Sero passed by the top of the six foot fence. Then, Danny felt his body give out.

He was thrown from the tape users body and sent just toward the other side of the fence, leaving Sero dumbfounded and more than confused as he fell. Utterly exhausted and breathing heavy, Danny knew he couldn’t even hope to fly out of there safely. But he could, at least, land on the other side and secure a victory at-

SLAP

The halfa felt a forceful this on his leg, followed by a violent pull. His guided fall was thrown off course and the ghost boy soon found himself hurtling towards the other side of the fence. And there, pulling Danng towards it as he fell, was Sero.

He had launched one last line of tape up in the air and had managed to catch the halfa’s ankle. And with resilience and determination shining in his eyes, the tape hero clutched the line with such force, his knuckles turned white.

“I’M NOT DONE YET!” Sero yelled out. And he pulled down with.

Immediately, the tape snapped rigid and Danny, with a yelp of surprise, was pulled to the ground with such force, he actually tumbled through the air. The world became a tumbling load of colors and light as he continued to fall. His powers refused to respond, his body ached more than ever and he could do nothing as he fell to the ground.

THUMP

The halfa impacted the ground back first against the grass lawn surrounding the arena. He let out a gasp of shock as his body rattled from the landing, knocking every ounce of air from his lungs and adding pain to the bruises that were already forming.

His ghost form had dissipated already and his black hair and, no doubt, blue eyes had returned.

His arms and legs flopped and remained unmoving beside him. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t even think. He just felt tired.

Danny couldn’t have begun to say how long he laid there for, just trying to recollect his thoughts as he stared at the fading skyline as the Sun began its first steps to setting. Once he did, he quickly remembered that he wasn’t the only one on the receiving end of this.

“Sero-san?” He called out in a cracked voice. 

No answer. 

A little worry hit his mind. He didn’t injure him badly, did he? 

Danny tried again. “Sero-san? You there?”

A response finally came from a voice just as strained and pained as his was. “Hold on! Let me remember how to breathe before I answer.” 

Danny smirked. “If you’re talking, you’re breathing. You’re fine.”

“What are you, my doctor now?” Sero replied humorously from what Danny could now tell was maybe teen feet away from him. He guessed. There was no way he was going to turn his head and check at the current moment. Not when his neck was still, to his best guess, vibrating. 

“So,” Danny started with a groan as he tried to make any kind of movement. “I guess we can call this my win?”

“Your win?” Sero laughed, then audibly winced. “No way, Fenton-san. You hit the ground before me.”

“What do you mean?” The halfa asked incredulously as he tried to move his arm. “You were on your way to the ground well before I got pulled. I know you hit the ground first.”

“But I pulled you forward! And I threw you down a lot faster! You definitely hit the ground before me!”

“I’m having a hard time believing that,” Danny said with a laugh as he finally somewhat moved his bruised arm. “Considering how far you were thrown down by that last move.”

“Not by choice!” Sero accused. “I would have recovered from it with what was left of my tape and my arm strength. The same strength that threw you down before me!”

Danny sighed. “Well, I was too busy tumbling to really get a good look. And I have this feeling you didn’t see much either. So…. draw?”

There was a pause, as Sero seemingly thought it over. Then he chuckled. “Well, I’m down to call it a draw. Even though I totally won.”

The halfa rolled his eyes, but he didn’t argue. Honestly, he was just happy over the fact that he was able to fight Sero to pretty much a standstill after only a day of having back his powers. He had gotten some good hits in and, in his mind, did pay back the tape user for the one sided combat they frequented in. So he was more than willing to call it a draw.

Disregarding the fact that he still totally won.

“Hey!” Sero exclaimed suddenly as, based on the groan in his voice and the fact that the sound of his voice changed slightly, he came to a shaky stand. “Since we’re on the topic, what the hell was that move you pulled on me last minute?”

“Which move?” Danny knew exactly what he was referring to, but he just wanted to hear Sero’s description to make sure he didn’t hurt him.

“You hopping into my mind or whatever.” The tape hero defined. “And forcing me to fall. Since when could you do that?”

Internally, the halfa sighed in relief. It didn’t sound like Sero was hurt in any way from it. “Since I got my Quirk back. I told you about a month ago that I had a possession Quirk.” 

“Yeah, but the way you were flinging that Quirk around between energy shots and flying and invisibility,” Sero let out a whistle. “You kind of forget about that power going on. And that possession was a hell of a surprise in the moment. That is one versatile Quirk you got.” 

“I’m just glad it’s in full working order,” Danny said honestly and laughed. “Working enough to get the job done, at least. I don’t have to start from square one after all.”

“Square one?” And a shadow loomed in Danny’s sight as a limping Sero stood over him. He was clutching his side and his eyes broadcasted that he was just as sore as the halfa, but he still boasted a smile and a hand to help Danny up. “Fenton-san, if there’s anything we can both agree on today, it’s that you’re definitely not at square one.”

The ghost boy smiled at that. “I’ll take that compliment before you take it back, Sero-san.” And he took his hand. He was quickly hoisted up, despite his bodies cries of pain, and shook out the spasms of soreness. “Thanks for the help. And I’m sorry if the match got sore of…” He motioned to the bruises prominent on Sero’s dispensers. “Intense.”

“Oh, I don’t mind.” Sero said nonchalantly. “I imagine things would be even tougher at elite hero schools. So a match like this is fine in my books.” 

“That’s good to hear,” Danny confessed with a wince as he tried to straighten up. “I want to get to where I was with my po… Quirk. Especially for where I want to go. And I think the only way to do that is to kind of pick up the pace of the training we’ve been doing and have it faster. Like what we did now.”

“Where you want to go?” Sero cocked an eyebrow. “You’ve mentioned that before. And you said you would talk more after you ‘mopped the floor with me’. Is that still something that’s going to happen? Because I don’t remember getting mopped with.”

“Man you just LOVE driving the wounds home, don’t you?” Danny retorted. But he nodded. “But I do want to talk to you about that still. Especially now.”

Sero looked even more curious than before. “What’s going on? You’re not going back to America, are you?”

“No,” The halfa quickly assured.“Nothing like that. It’s actually a lot more local.” He sighed. “I got to take a good look at myself recently, Sero-san. And exactly what I want to accomplish, you know? And I guess you could say I kind of had a revelation. About what I really wanted to do here in Japan to make sure I could move on from everything that happened before.”

Sero said nothing at that and seemingly waited for him to continue, which gave Danny some relief. The tape hero never really pressed the fact of what exactly happened in Danny’s past. He was one to focus on the present and continue to move forward. Which was good. The halfa would probably never feel ready to fully talk about what happened. 

“And I came to the realization that what I really wanted was to become the strongest I could be power-wise. And help people keep away from what happened to me. And, with that in mind, one place stuck out to me above all else. One place that you kind of drilled into my head above all else.” 

All of the sudden, the tape hero’s eyes glowed with excitement. “You don’t mean…”

Danny smirked before reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a ruffled form of paper. The heading was outlined with the firm words “First Choice School Selections” and presented about eight lines to fill out. On the top, prominently displayed and boasting its name above the seven blanks, was UA. 

Sero’s eyes widened. And his cheshire grin returned in full prominence. 

“Honestly, I still have my own reservations when it comes to what heroes do,” The halfa admitted. “But I still want to get stronger and use my Quirk to help people. And UA is one of the top schools here for learning how to do that, according to you. So I figured why not start there. First I wanted to see if I could use my power combat wise. And that was kind of the reason I challenged you.”

“Kind of?” The tape hero asked. 

Danny sighed. “Alright. And a little revenge, but that’s not entirely what it was about. I figured that kind of training could really test what I could do with my Quirk and we could hopefully work from there. I know it’s different from what we first agreed on, since I didn’t have my Quirk to fight back with, but I was hoping for your help in this. You know more about UA then I do and you know how to train and at least part of what to train for. So I kind of…”

“I’m in!”

Danny looked up in surprise at the smiling Sero. “You are?”

“Hell yeah, man!” Danny’s friend nearly yelled out. “Fenton-san, we’ve been the dynamic duo here! We’ve been training and dodging with each over for the past few months! If you think I’m not going to help my friend and training partner get into UA so we can ace that school together, you are a whole other type of crazy!” He held a finger up. “Of course, it’s still going to be hard. Trying to get into an elite school like UA is bound to be. And it’ll be even tougher to graduate.” He snorted. “But with a Quirk like yours and a Quirk like mine, there’s no way we can’t try! Let’s up the training and get to work then!”

The ghost boy was a bit shocked. At first, he thought Sero would have reservations about this, since he was the one who crafted the single type and rigid training exercises they had been going through. And he thought that the inclusion of his Quirk would kind of disrupt the focus on Sero’s Quirk training and he wouldn’t be all on board with that. 

But it seemed Sero was just as hyped at the idea as Danny was. And feeling anticipation surge within himself, he laughed.

“Sounds like a plan!” The halfa said with a laugh. “Thank you, Sero-san.”

“No problem at all.” Sero responded genuinely. Then he smiled a sinister smile. “Although you’re going to have to get ready. Because I’m definitely bringing full force to this now.”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that.” Danny replied with an equally sinister smile. “If you’re struggling this much against me when I don’t have a solid hold on my powers, I think you’ll be even easier to fight the stronger I get.”

“Ohhh,” The tape hero exclaimed. “Man. That’s boasting if I’ve ever heard it. For that, you’ll be getting ALL my improvised ultimate moves next time around.” 

The halfa shrugged, unafraid. “Well, I guess this means I’ll have to come up with my own improvised ultimate moves, too.”

“What?! Your whole Quirk is an ultimate move already!” Sero accused. “I’d say you already have enough power going on.”

“But it can always be improved on,” Danny teased back. “And, more importantly, really effective in combat.”

The two friends argued their points back and forth as they both struggled out of the school yard and back to the Main Street, the glow of the dipping Sun lighting their path along the way. 

They argued, but under their words they were both more excited than ever at the prospect of UA. They both held goals that can only be achieved by attending the academy. And they were both well aware of that.

But in that moment, the prospect seemed a little less intimidating for both of them. They had boosted each other up here, after all. And if they were both to make it in, or even have either one of them get in, they were confident they could aspire with each other’s help.

So the two friends moved forward. Towards home, towards hope and ever closer towards their dreams. 

…

“UA is a VERY prestigious choice, to say the least.” The surprised voice of Tsukauchi said from the other side of the line. “And one with a low acceptance rate at that.”

“I know.” Seicho assured. “But it’s the one he wants. And the one that I think, personally, will help him the most.”

The nurse currently sat in the empty hospital break room, finishing off the last of his lunch and leaning heavily onto the table as he internally stressed the current call even further.

When Fenton had told his guardian that he wanted to attend UA last night, the first thing Seicho had done was let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He didn’t know if it was relief or stress, but he also couldn’t blame himself if it was both. 

Relief for the fact that Fenton was taking steps to benefit himself as opposed to diving deeper into his own self-doubt, but stress at the choice of school. UA was definitely not one of the easiest schools to get into. And the fact that Fenton had been so determined to go…

If UA rejected him, it would just be another punch to the gut that Fenton didn’t need. But he also knew that he couldn’t and wouldn’t stop the black haired boy if this is what he thought could help him.

That’s why Seicho was doing everything he could to clear the way for the ghost boy to at least have an easy time getting there. 

He was putting more of his free time to helping Fenton study and learn for the academic half of the exams, but also towards trying to ease the ridiculous amounts of paperwork coming from a person with a relatively unknown background into a top notch school. 

And it all started with the passing of the information of Fenton’s decision to the officer in charge of his case, Tsukauchi.

“Help him in what way?” The officer asked, genuinely curious. “I thought he disliked the idea of heroes and wanted to stay away from the schools that trained them.”

“At first, yeah,” Seicho agreed. “But, even though he still doesn’t exactly connect with the aspect of being a hero, he still wants to get stronger and keep moving forward, you know? And he thinks that UA will help him get stronger than he is and train him to use his Quirk better. And I agree. Out of all the schools for him to pick, UA may be the best choice.”

“Maybe.” Tsukauchi replied after a beat. “But you know there are qualified schools that can accept him besides UA. Ones that are less strict and offer more in life skills as opposed to hero work.”

“Yeah, I do.” Seicho confirmed. He should know. He had gone through the list with Fenton beforehand. “But those schools aren’t what Fenton-san is looking for. He really wants to thrive and aspire to the best of his ability. And get a good handle on his Quirk again. And I honestly think that the teachers at UA can offer everything like that.” 

“The path is going to be hard,” Tsukauchi warned one last time. “Not just the test, but the curriculum. It’ll be hard.”

Seicho nodded. “Yeah, no doubt. I didn’t go myself, but I did hear the rumors.”

“And you think Fenton-san can succeed?”

Seicho pursed his lips. He had seen Fenton go through thick and thin in the over two months since he had taken him in. He had seen him fall over and over. Break down. Get angry. Get sad. Just try and deal with everything that’s been happening around him.

But, above all else, Seicho had always seen Fenton do one thing more than any of the others: get back up. Get back up and keep going. He didn’t always know where he was going or where it would take him, but he always kept moving. And he always stood back up.

Now, with the ghost boy standing taller than ever, there was no doubt in Seicho’s mind.

“I don’t think he can succeed, Officer Tsukauchi,” Seicho replied. “I know he can succeed. Especially if we give him the chance.”

There was another moment of silence, almost like the officer was taking in his words. Then he sighed.

“I still think there are much easier schools for him to get into to improve himself,” Tsukauchi said seemingly more to himself than Seicho. “Because UA is not an easy school whatsoever. But you’ve kept an eye on him all this time and it seems Fenton-san is locked on this. So I’ll trust your judgement as always, Seicho-san.”

Seicho had to resist the urge to literally leap out of his chair in joy. “Thank you so much, Tsukauchi-san!” He was so excited that he had managed to help that he had forgot to attach the formal “Officer” title to his wording. But that was all a million miles away in his mind. “So that means you’ll…”

“I’ll pass the appropriate papers forward and ease the tape line that Fenton-san will get thanks to his limited background,” Tsukauchi confirmed. “He has nothing to worry about. Though I really hope he knows what he’s getting himself into if he gets into UA and gets properly prepared.”

Seicho chuckled. “Agreed. Though from what I’ve seen with what Fenton-san can do? I’m hoping UA is the one properly prepared.”

…

Five months later…

The day of the UA Entrance Exams 

“The bank robbery squad was only able to make it about as far as the roundabout street.” The reporter continued as she motioned to a corner of the street now swarmed with police cars and ambulances. “There, they were cut off and desperate enough to begin to pull out their heavy duty Quirks and threaten the people around them.” All of the sudden, the red haired woman smiled. “But they were only able to shoot off the beginnings of their full power before the Number One Hero arrived. And, true to his own power and position, All Might disarmed and rendered them unconscious within moments!”

The screen flashed and it switched to a small slideshow of images from the incident, showing the five man group making their way down the roundabout with bags of cash in hand. The next, they were surrounded by the police and fighting. The next, they hesitated as the hulking form of All Might appeared in front of them, but they still looked ready to fight. And the last picture was of All Might, massive arms holding the unconscious forms of the four robbers as he laughed on in triumph. 

“The four robbers have been taken into custody by the police with only minor injuries. And the recovered money has been safely returned to the bank by the Number One Hero. Thank you once again, All Might, for keeping our streets safe!”

The screen switched once more to the reporter, though this time around, the UA Symbol shined brightly beside her. 

“In related news, the UA Entrance Exams to decide this year’s fledgling hero class are beginning this morning! The most elite hero school in Japan sees a swell of well over five-hundred aspiring heroes every year, but only about forty on average make it into the prestigious halls of UA. Those who do attend are taught the basics by the elite heroes that once attended this school themselves. Every hero we know today has attended UA at some point in their lives. And I expect we can see no less from those who make it in today! Good luck to those trying out this morning! And we all look forward to seeing what kind of potential UA brings out of all of you!”

“Yeah, no pressure there.” Sero called out from behind the driver side chair. “‘Every hero we KNOW has been to UA! Better make sure you’re in those halls! Otherwise, what the heck can you be?!’”

“It sounds like you’re still a little nervous, Sero-san.” Danny said with a sympathetic smile from the passenger side.

“I’m not!” There was a beat. “... But if I was, she’s definitely not helping! She could have made that good luck a lot less ominous. That’s all I’m saying.”

“Fair point, Sero-san,” Seicho piped up from the driver’s seat. “It’s usually a good idea not to psych yourselves out before this sort of thing. The news may not be the best choice of watch right now.”

Danny shook his head. “Alright, fine. I can check out the weather later.” And he closed the news feed on his phone.

They were all currently en route to the UA Entrance Exams, courtesy of Seicho and his car.

Danny could have very easily flown and Sero could have swung, but they didn’t want to take any risk when it came to the rules about Quirks. The last thing either of them needed was an arrest at this crucial point in time. So they opted to take the safe route and just get someone to take them.

Sero’s parents both work early morning so that was out of the question, but Seicho was willing to take a sick day to get them where they needed to go, which Danny was thankful for. He would owe him yet another one after this. 

“I mean, you guys have every right to be nervous,” Seicho said as he continued his drive. “But you both put your all into this training and made sure you were as prepared as you can be. And, at the end of the day, that’s about as prepared as you can get. So don’t feel nervous that you’re unprepared.”

Sero nodded at that. “True. I don’t think there was a way we could’ve gotten MORE training in. But we still have no idea what’s on that exam. And I think that’s what makes me more nervous.”

Danny nodded as well. “I’m nervous about that, too. But we did train pretty extensively with our Quirks and made sure to adapt them well enough to account for speed and strength. We should be good.”

For the first time, the tape user snickered. “Yeah. But that’s coming from the guy who phases through anything to the guy with tape coming out of his elbows. Bit of a difference.” 

Sero was probably expecting a retort along the lines of “Nah man, your Quirk is fine”. Danny internally laughed as he differed the route.

“Well…” Danny started, feigning a thoughtful scratch of his chin. “When you put it that way, you’re not exactly wrong.”

Sero immediately kicked the back of Danny’s seat. “You’re the worst, Fenton-san.” 

Danny laughed, but he hoped his friend knew that he was underestimating exactly what they had accomplished. Alongside a host of new moves and old moves learned, they readily increased the time limit of their Quirk. Or, in Sero’s case, how much tape he could produce at one time. Before he could only produce enough to line a small trashcan. Now, Sero could produce enough to fill about a small pool’s worth. It was a heck of an improvement from where he was before. And that worked both ways.

Danny could use his powers at a much more ready pace then he had been before. He no longer got so winded after one fight. In fact, he was at the point where he could jump into another fight after finishing one. He had also began to familiarize himself with his old moves, which had brought him back to the movement speed he had been before. But that’s not where the change stopped.

Danny had begun to build some muscle. Not prominently, like bulging abs like All Might or anything like that. Instead, he had noticed that his biceps had begun to straighten and there was definitely muscle definition on his legs. He even noticed that he had begun to build up a lot more energy than he had before. And that his chest had begun to define itself as well, with any fat giving way to leanness that one would expect from a runner. 

He didn’t go into the training expecting a regiment in physical exercise, but it’s what he got. And, he had to say, he wasn’t complaining.

Sero was having the same result. All the tape pulls and swinging he had been doing had upped the muscles in his arms and chest. And he was visibly bigger than he had been before. Of course, Sero being Sero, he used that to try and up his popularity with the ladies at Kaizen, though he hadn’t had any luck. 

On more than one occasion, he had asked Danny to help him by being his wingmen, but Danny didn’t have any experience with that back in his own world. He didn’t think he would have much luck here.

“Honestly, it seems like you’ve both made some serious progress with your Quirks,” Seicho said reassuringly. “I don’t think you guys will have trouble standing out.”

Danny thought back to the pro heroes he had seen in the news and the examples they set with their Quirks. “Well, we can. But there are going to be a whole lot of different powers going off during this exam. So it might be a little hard to stand out against the crowd of people standing out, Seicho-san.”

“Especially if the crowd’s Quirks are a lot flashier than ours.” Sero added.

“Which is why, regardless of how powerful the Quirks are of those around you, you have to keep your eye on the goal,” Seicho relayed as he pulled off to the sidewalk. “Don’t worry about the others. Keep doing what you can do to the nest of your ability. And you may stand out more than you think.” The nurse shrugged. “Of course, I wouldn’t know. I never did the Entrance Exam for UA before. But it’s just something to keep in mind. Especially because we’re here.”

Danny jumped. “What?! Really?!” 

He was so caught up in the conversation and words at hand, he didn’t have the chance to really see that the car had pulled up to the entrance of UA. Though now that he was here, the halfa found himself wondering HOW he had missed.

The complex outside the car windows was MASSIVE, sprawling the length of of about a full football stadium. Four skyscraper like buildings lined two by two in front of the main gates, almost looking over the whole area. Each building was a literal ocean of windows, shining under the glare of the Sun and presenting itself as almost a shining beacon in the city. There was a small connection bridge between the first two structures that stood proudly in front of the blue gates, almost like a walkway that was shrouded in the gleam of heroics and mystery.

In front and behind the open gate was a crowd of different students from different schools, each sporting their required uniforms as they talked and chatted and yelled, all while firing off or showing off Quirks that Danny had never seen before.

It didn’t look like a high school to Danny. To him, it looked more like a college for superheroes.

“Whoa.” That was truly the only word that Danny could emit to describe the awe and shock he had felt upon looking at the school.

“We’re here!” Sero’s reaction differed greatly from Danny’s. The tape hero immediately straightened, an onlooker of fear and nervousness sparking in his pupils as he stretched. “Okay. It’s just a test it’s just a test it’s just a test. We try our best. That’s all we can do.” He let out a breath and nodded to Seicho. “Thank you for the ride, Seicho-san. And thank you for the advice.” 

“No problem, Sero-san! Good luck on your test!”

With another nod, Sero opened his door and stepped out.

Danny, on the other hand, remained in the car for a moment, feeling the buildup of getting here beginning to hit. When he first got here, he thought barring himself from any kind of hero stuff would bring him some kind of peace from what he lost.

Now, his life had taken a completely different turn. And he was on the steps to one of the most prestigious hero schools in Japan, about to try to gain entrance through a test.

It was such a flip over the course of several months. Was he doing the right thing? The appropriate thing?

A grain of self-doubt had inserted itself in his thoughts. And it looked ready to stay until Seicho’s voice jolted the halfa out of his stupor. 

“Fenton-san.” His guardian asked cautiously. “Are you okay?”

Danny didn’t know what to say at first, but as he thought back to everything he had been through and everything Seicho had done for him, he felt his resolve steel. He knew he had to be making the right choice. For both himself and his family.

“Yeah,” Danny replied with a smile. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Seicho’s expression seemed to relax at that and he nodded.

“Like I said, don’t be nervous. You’ve got your moves down, your powers back. And now you just need to show off, which you’re already a professional at, if I do say so myself.” Ignoring Danny’s look, he continued. “Look, no matter what happens, you persevered through a dark time in your life and you made it here, despite all the doubt. Always be proud of that, Fenton-san. Keep that in mind, and go conquer this test.”

The halfa nodded. “I will! Thank you, Seicho-san.”

The ghost boy held up a fist and Seicho smiled as they shared in the American custom that Danny had passed to him: a bro fist.

With that, Danny grabbed his bag, opened the car door and stepped out onto the grounds of UA Academy.

The first thing that came to the ghost boy’s head was how welcoming it all seemed. From everything he had been told, he thought it would be some exquisite place that gave off the air that only the truly elite belonged here. Like Vlad’s Mansion, almost.

Instead, the atmosphere was brimming with excitement and knowledge. And there was almost a unanimous feeling among those around the ghost boy, as he rushed to catch up with Sero, that they were all cheering each other on in one way or another.

It was a very different feel then one would imagine first looking at the towering structures of UA, but it all complimented each other expertly.

The next thing that caught Danny’s attention was the absurd amount of different Quirks around them. Back at Kaizen, there were Quirks around, but they were ones that you would get used to or feel comfortable around after about a month.

Being in a new environment, exposed to different powers was a restarting shock to the halfa.

Everywhere he looked, he saw colored beams, flowers growing, dragon wings, trumpets in mouths, scopelike eyes, slinky bodies, large hands, rock bodies, giant noses. All in different school uniforms and different walks of life. 

It was a display of powers Danny could only reel from. And he felt the nervous spike of energy that Sero had no doubt been feeling before.

“Alright, I get why you were nervous,” Danny said to Sero as they navigated their way through the forwarding crowd. “Some of these Quirks are pretty flashy.”

Sero scowled. “Why is it the one time you say I’m right, it only makes me more nervous than before?”

“I’m not taking it back.”

Sero laughed at that, which helped clear the air. “Yeah, it’s nerve-wracking and all. But like Seicho-san said, we just have to stand out above them our way, right? We trained enough. We have the chance. We can do this.”

Danny exhaled and nodded, shaking some of his building nervousness off. “You’re right. We can. It’s just a little new to me is all. A whole competition of people with different Quirks is… never something I’ve never done before.” 

Sero shook his head. “Neither have I. But chances are, neither have any of them. We’re at least all in the same boat in that way.” 

Yeah, but you’ve seen competitions happen with multiple Quirks going on on TV, Danny thought to himself. I never got to see any of that. Or any of this. I’m at a bit of a disadvantage here.

Regardless, Danny didn’t feel any want to leave. He had made it this far and he wasn’t wasting that opportunity. Especially when that opportunity was to improve himself and prevent anything like what happened to him from happening to anyone else.

He continued to follow the crowd and Sero up into the main area and towards a filing line into what looked to be the main auditorium, a massive complex that, while not as big as the main towers of UA, still presented itself as a towering area that shrouded over the advancing students.

Danny wouldn’t doubt if the whole area could fill most of the population of Amity Park. And that thought was only heightened as he and Sero entered.

“Holy crap!” 

Danny couldn’t help the words leaving his mouth as he and Sero exited the main entrance hall alongside many other hopefuls and stepped towards the massive concert hall like area.

Seats surrounded the area like they were about to collapse in on them. Hundreds and hundreds of them lined the bottom and top of the auditorium, all trained on the performing area in front of them all, with spotlights, microphones and a DJ box. 

Person after person mulled in the seats, socializing, yelling and generally just being a crowd minus the Quirk usage. The atmosphere around the two was PRIMED with an overwhelming excitement. All around them, the middle schoolers were practically jumping with excitement as they reveled in the fact that they were at UA.

And Sero was no exception.

“We’re HERE, Fenton-san!” Sero enthused as he took in the auditorium, his awe overwhelming any remaining sense of nervousness he had. “Man, we’re finally here! All our work is about to pay off!”

He shouted like him and Danny already had one foot in the door.

“Let’s save all that excitement for after the test, Sero-san,” Danny said with a laugh. “We still have to take the thing first.”

“I mean, I know that!” Sero corrected. “But still! It’s pretty damn exciting to be here at UA! You hear so many things about how it looks and all… but all this!” The tape user smiled. “It’s cool as hell!”

Danny nodded as he took in the auditorium once more. “Well, you’re definitely not wrong about that.” As the halfa’s eyes scanned the full area around them as they walked, he suddenly realized something. “But I think it would be even more cool if we could find a place to sit.”

Sero’s smile faltered. And his eyes immediately dropped to the crowd as well. 

There was a sea of people in sight, but a lack of free seats within view. All the rows on the bottom level were crowded beyond belief. And those that were empty were being saved by other students for their friends. And those on the top level were already filling in the last seats.

“Oh crap, you’re right!” Sero exclaimed as he whirled around. “Where are we going to sit?!”

Danny didn’t have an answer. He wasn’t really seeing an available seat for both of them. And, since this area was relatively Quirk free, he didn’t want to take the risk of using his powers and getting kicked out because of it. He was about to suggest he and Sero bite the bullet and go to separate seats when a soft voice spoke from his side. 

“Kero. I have two open if you guys are looking for seats.”

Danny turned and met eyes with who was perhaps the strangest yet most innocent and friendly looking girl he had ever seen.

She had big, round curious eyes that seemed to regard the halfa in a questioning nature, helped by the curious pose of a wondering finger to her chin. 

She had long blackish-green hair that stretched down her back, with the end tied together in a bow. She slouched slightly forward, but didn’t seem bothered by the stance. Her free hand was out with hand and fingers hung forward, almost like the zombie hand stance, but different.

Her school uniform was a white shirt with a blue collar and a red tie, complemented by the dark blue skirt and black stockings. The whole outfit was something that Danny thought he recognized, but he couldn’t quite place his finger from where.

Realizing he may have been staring too long, the ghost boy turned his attention to the fact that there were two empty and free seats beside the girl.

“Are you sure?” Danny asked. “If you’re saving it for your friends, we can still find our own seats. No need to sacrifice them or anything.”

The girl shook her head. “Kero. The two people that were sitting here moved up to find better seats in the front. And they found them, from the looks of it. If you’re looking for seats, you’re more than welcome to take them.”

Her friendly tone and demeanor sold away the very little doubt Danny had in taking the seats. And he and Sero didn’t want to pass up the chance at opportune seating. So Danny sat beside the girl and Sero beside him.

The row they were seated on was about ten or eleven rows away from the front, but that was no bother to Danny. Honestly, he was just happy to be seated and waiting for the beginning of the exam. All he had to do at this point was wait for it to start.

“Well,” The halfa turned to the girl and nodded “Thank you for your help. My name's Fenton Danny.”

“Sero Hanta!” The tape user said beside him with a smile. “We appreciate your help.”

The girl smiled brightly and nodded back at them. “Asui Tsuyu. But my friends call me Tsu. Kero. And it was no trouble to help. We’re all working together for the same goals, so there’s no reason we can’t be friendly to one another.” 

Danny smiled, surprised by the kindness she radiated. “I couldn’t agree more, Asui-san.”

“Hell yeah!” Sero added. “Especially since we may all be in UA together for the semester!”

Tsu ribbited in humor. “I’m so happy to meet people with such enthusiasm about UA. And you can call me Tsu.” She tilted her head in curiosity. “Those uniforms… you both went to Kaizen?” 

“Yeah,” Danny nodded. “We’re both transferring from there and, hopefully, to here.” The ghost boy regarded the green haired girl. “You know Kaizen?”

The whole area of Mustafu and the cities around it was, as Danny learned, peppered with middle schools that held certain focuses when it came to aspiring heroes. And they all mostly kept to themselves and, more importantly, kept distance to keep their own influx of students in their own sections of the city. So students from different schools interacting with each other or even kind of keeping an eye towards other schools (besides the high schools they aspired to) was surprising.

But Tsu nodded in confirmation, much to Danny’s surprise. “Kero. The school I attended, Shinka Middle School, was close enough to Kaizen that I’ve run into students from there before. Your uniforms are very formal and dark. It’s very hard to miss since it looks very broody at times.”

The halfa let out a breath. “You’re telling me.”

“But it’s very admirable to see two students from the same non-elite school try out for UA.” Tsu looked back towards the stage, almost as if really taking in the thought she had shared. “It makes me feel happier, now that I know there are people coming from regular schools like me.”

That gave Danny the answer he had been looking for. The reason he had recognized the uniform Tsu wore was because he HAD seen it before. There was the occasional person who passed by on his way to Seicho’s apartment, sporting the same colors and look that the green haired girl wore now. So she was from a school similar to Kaizen in the average teaching style as well.

That also gave the ghost boy his own boost in confidence as well. But that also gave the halfa a realization. One that Sero leaped on quicker than he did.

Sero leaned forward and towards Tsu. “Are you the only person from Shinka trying out to get into UA?”

Asui nodded her head firmly, no hesitance in her expression. “Most of the class assumed they didn’t have a chance to get in, which is unfortunate. Kero. I would have liked to see some of them here.” She placed her finger to her chin again. “But I still want to try to get in. Kero. UA is open to train anyone to be the best pro they can be.” She smiled. “And I think it’ll help me become the rescue hero I want to be.” 

Danny immediately felt his own expression tighten slightly at that. Tsu was just like Sero in the fact that they both wanted to come to this school to become the best hero they could be. They were driving themselves forward. 

Just like Danny. And yet, the small piece of doubt within him cindered. Not just like him. There was a difference between himself and them, right? And once they knew…

Danny clenched his fist and took a breath. He was only psyching himself out at this point. He knew already that he didn’t think that way. He wanted to move on. He wanted to make his parents proud.

And I want to make myself better.

“Well,” The ghost boy said in kindness to both his companions. “That’s just as admirable as any of us, Tsu. And I know we’ll get that chance.” He looked back up. “First things first, we’ll have to pass this stupid test.”

“...You make it sound easy.” Sero said with a chuckle. 

“Hey, I never said that. No test I take is ever easy. Trust me.” as long as we stick to what we know and keep going forward,” Danny looked back to his friend. “We can do the best we can, right?”

“Hell yes.” Sero agreed with a firm nod and a thumbs up. 

“A very good way to put it, Fenton-san,” Tsu ribbited happily before looking at the stage. “And very appropriate words to begin a test with.”

“Begin?” Danny looked back to the stage and felt his heart speed up as he noticed the lights darken and the spotlights shine to the DJ booth.

He heard Sero’s breath hitch. “Here we go…” 

He took the words right out of Danny’s mouth. There was itching adrenaline shooting through his hands as he felt his heart begin to thud against his chest. He had worked so hard over the past five months to make this chance happen. 

More than anything, he wanted to make up for the time he had assumed to know what was right to do and not what he WANTED to do. 

Danny wanted to improve and become better than he had ever been. And the chance was now a test away. 

He never thought he would be this excited or nervous again when it came to aspirations around his powers and overall hero work. But like so many times before, this world was changing his expectations. And he found himself looking forward to how it would change it more. Maybe… how it would even change him now.

“WELCOME, FUTURE HEROES!” A booming voice called across the concert hall. “LET’S GET THIS TEST BRIEFING STAAAAAAAAAAARRTED!”


End file.
